Since we were Boys
by hanabananana
Summary: Kurt and Blaine grew up as close as friends could get but when Kurt begins to feel things for Blaine that he has never experienced before, their friendship becomes strained. They realize that they both have a lot of figuring out to do. Klaine. On Hiatus
1. Sleepovers

**Aloha! I am starting another Glee fic hooray! :D (also cheesy title is cheesy but idc)  
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**So yeah, this is a Blaine-and-Kurt-have-been-friends-since-they-were-kids fic which I have always wanted to write, I know there's a lot out there but I wanted to do my own take on the idea. **

**Disclaimer: Glee ain't mine yo**

**Warning: This chapter contains a small referance to a miscarraige, which will probably be brought up again later on (though it isn't a main focal point)**

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><p>"Do you think Mr. Walter hates me?" Blaine asked out of the blue one Friday night, not even looking up from where he was reading his old, torn copy of The Great Gatsby. He lay on his stomach on Kurt's bed, legs in the air and feet crossed at the ankles, swaying them gently to the beat of the Beyonce album Kurt was listening to, it was his favorite position to read in. Kurt gave him a contemplative glance from the reflection in the mirror on his vanity table, pausing in his skin care regime to raise an eyebrow, though Blaine was still somehow entirely engrossed in his book to notice.<p>

"I don't know, why?" He finally answered, fingers rubbing into his skin once more to hydrate his not-dry-but-would-be-I-didn't-do-this-every-night skin.

"I got another C in English." He admitted as Kurt screwed the lids back onto his skin products before joining Blaine on the bed, legs crossed and elbows resting on his knees.

"Well maybe if you didn't spend all of your free time re-reading The Great Gatsby and instead read the actual _set_ books for class, you might find writing essays a little easier." He pointed out, laughing as he picking at the frayed edges of the book splayed on his bed.

"Hey! I like this book, It's much better than The Catcher in the Eye…" Blaine huffed and Kurt rolled his eyes in that oh-so Kurt-ish manner that Blaine was so familiar with.

"It's The Catcher in the _Rye,_ Blaine, no wonder you're having trouble with this." Kurt reprimanded, hiding his amusement at the boy. "And anyway what _normal_ teenage guy reads The Great Gatsby for leisure?" He asked accusingly and it was Blaine's turn for an eye roll.

"What normal teenage guy moisturizes his face three times a day?" He countered, enjoying the look of bafflement as Kurt floundered for a reply.

"I have dry skin." He finally came back with, crossing his arms over his chest.

"Your skin is not dry."

"Well it would be if I didn't moisturize three times a day!" Blaine just laughed heartily in response; they had this argument pretty much every time they spent the night at each other's houses.

"You're ridiculous." He said though Kurt knew he wasn't serious as they both laughed it off. Kurt shuffled closer to Blaine, laying himself down on his stomach as he rested alongside his friend, reading the faded words over his shoulder.

"Why do you even like that book so much any way?" He asked, scrutinizing the tattered pages, worn from so much use. Kurt kept all of his books in pristine condition, never folding pages and never creasing the spine no matter how many times he read them, Blaine on the other hand had no such concerns and happily let his books fall to pieces as he read them.

"I don't know, I guess I just like Gatsby, he's very…dapper. I kind of admire him." He admitted, finally looking up from the text to glance at Kurt who only gave him a look of bewilderment.

"Wasn't he a criminal…?" Kurt asked with a clearly judgmental expression.

"Yeah…" Blaine replied slowly, "But only because he was so in love with Daisy and wanted to win her back! It's romantic!"

"Our definitions of 'Romantic' differ greatly, Blaine." Kurt sighed as he rolled himself off of the bed, moving to his iPod to switch the music off. "Come on," He said yawning "It's late, I need to sleep." He turned the light switch off, leaving only his bedside lamp on to see, and climbed under the covers as Blaine folded the corner of his page to mark his place. He placed it on Kurt's bedside table before eyeing the bed a little uneasily.

"Don't you think we're getting…a little too old to sleep in the same bed…?" He asked nervously as Kurt's eyebrows furrowed, wondering why Blaine had suddenly decided to bring that up.

"Don't be ridiculous, it's a double, there's plenty of room…" Kurt replied though he had a feeling that wasn't what Blaine had meant.

"No I mean, guys usually stop sharing a bed at sleepovers when they're like…10 or something." Kurt raised an eyebrow as if to say _yeah, your point being? _"We're 16, Kurt." He said a little helplessly, knowing his argument was weak. Kurt sighed and burrowed his head into his pillow.

"Do you want to sleep on the floor or what?" He asked, "Because I am _not_ making up the sofa bed at this time of night." Blaine just laughed before giving up and joining Kurt under the covers.

"I never said I didn't _want_ to share a bed, it's just…"

"Just what?" Kurt asked a little on edge as he turned to face Blaine, eyeing him curiously.

"Nothing." Blaine decided, giving Kurt a reassuring smile.

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><p><em>Blaine and Kurt had known each other since they were 6, ever since Kurt had been trying to catch a particularly pretty butterfly one summer afternoon and Blaine had offered to help, letting Kurt borrow one of his dad's fishing nets as they both chased butterflies down the street. <em>

"_Why that butterfly?" Blaine had asked when they were completely worn out from running so much and released all of their butterflies except for their favorite two which they kept in separate boxes. _

"_I like the colours" Kurt replied. "The yellows and oranges look nice together." He said in his most grown up voice. "What about yours?" He asked, gesturing to Blaine's bright blue butterfly _

"_I like the colour of my one too," He said, picking up his butterfly by its wing and holding it up to Kurt's face as it flapped about helplessly. "They look like your eyes." _

"_Don't!" Kurt reprimanded, taking the butterfly from Blaine and cradling it gently in his hands "You'll hurt him." Blaine's eyes widened in worry._

"_No! I didn't mean to! Sorry Mister Butterfly!" He cried as Kurt placed it back in the box. _

"_Anyway, my eyes aren't blue." Kurt huffed "They're green." Blaine squinted and moved closer to Kurt, putting his face so close that their noses were almost touching in order to get a better look. _

"_They look blue to me." _

"_Do not!" Kurt argued, pulling back a little._

"_Maybe they're both?" Blaine suggested "Maybe they're a colour that hasn't been invented yet and we're the first to discover it!" Kurt raised his eyebrows, no one had ever taken such an interest in him before, he'd always found it difficult to make friends. "Your eyes are bleen." Blaine decided, crossing his arms and leaning back for emphasis._

"_What?" _

"_Bleen! Like blue and green put together! It's our new colour!" He smiled triumphantly at his new friend._

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><p>"Blaine! Quit hogging the covers!" Kurt moaned, tugging at the sheets and bringing Blaine out of his pre-sleep haze.<p>

"Wha-?" He said sleepily as he pulled more of the duvet over himself. "Shu-up, sleep'n" Kurt rolled his eyes and elbowed Blaine in the ribs earning a yelp from the sleeping boy and allowing him to reclaim some of the duvet. Blaine rubbed his side, glaring at Kurt, he never did like being woken unnecessarily. He picked up one of his pillows and felt it appropriate to smother Kurt in retaliation.

"Mmmmfphh BLAINMMFF!" He cried though he was considerably muffled by the cushiony softness of the pillow that smelled so much like the boy who was suffocating him. Blaine eventually relented after Kurt kicked him hard in the shin.

"Ouch!" He cried, bringing his leg up to rub that too. "You're a bully!"

"You're a jerk." Kurt laughed "Now _go to sleep"_

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><p><em>Blaine had always been there for Kurt. When his mom had died, he spent hours and hours of every day for weeks just sitting with him in Kurt's room, holding him and letting him cry. He helped make a photo album of all the pictures Kurt owned of him and his mother, Blaine decided which order the photos should go in whilst Kurt decorated it with glitter and stickers and colourful borders on each page. <em>

_They'd go to the park together and Blaine would let Kurt have the last swing if there wasn't another one available and even tried pushing him as hard as he could when Kurt got upset since his mother always used to push him on the swing. _

_They'd go on the climbing frame and play pirates for a while, Blaine even let Kurt be the captain even though he always liked playing the captain and he followed every single one of Kurt's orders with a _"yes captain, aye aye captain!" _It took his mind off of things just for a little while and Blaine felt a swell of pride every time he managed to see Kurt smile. It became his mission, everyday when he and Kurt would play together he would make it his utmost priority just to make Kurt smile, because that was what best friends were for, wasn't it?_

_It took a while but soon Kurt was back to smiling every day again and Blaine couldn't be happier, he had missed him. He missed Kurt's mom too, she was always nice to him and baked them both cookies during the winter and she was always happy to let Blaine stay the night. But Blaine had to be strong for Kurt, because Kurt's pain was a whole lot bigger than his. _

_It took a while, but Kurt was happy again._

_Blaine was there for Kurt when he started getting bullied at school as well, all of the boys called him a girl and it made Kurt cry sometimes. Kurt hated to cry, he said it made him weak and no wonder everyone said he was a girl if he cried at every little thing! Blaine knew that there was nothing wrong with crying, he cried a lot himself though he tried not to ever cry in front of Kurt. His daddy always got annoyed at him if he cried too much and he didn't want Kurt to be angry at him too. Blaine just told Kurt time and time again that there was nothing wrong with crying and the bullies were just jealous because they didn't have clothes as nice as he did. Kurt sniffled and wiped his eyes as he looked at Blaine, seeing if he really meant it. From the earnest look on his face, Kurt could tell that he did and the two spent the rest of the day dressing each other up in all of Kurt's clothes. The bow ties were difficult to tie and felt kind of funny around his neck but Blaine thought they looked cool when he saw himself in the mirror. _

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><p>"Kurt, you have <em>got<em> to stop snoring." Blaine whimpered as he shook Kurt awake. He remained asleep however and responded simply by snoring louder. "Oh my God, I swear I'm gonna smother you with my pillow again." He mumbled to himself as he raised himself up on his elbows. "Kurt!" nothing. "_Kurt!" _still no response. Blaine sighed and leaned down, getting as close to Kurt's ear as possible. "_**Kuuuuuuurt!**_" He called, considerably louder. Kurt's eyes shot open with and he awoke with a start, panting at the sudden noise. "Shut up." Blaine instructed as he flopped back down, burying his face under his pillow. Kurt's eyes widened incredulously.

"I'm not the one yelling in people's ears!" He said croakily, still dizzy under the effects of sleep.

"You were snoring." Came Blaine's muffled reply from under the pillow.

"I. Don't. Snore." Kurt replied impatiently, no matter how many times Blaine woke him in the middle of the night he still refused to believe that his body could do something so ugly.

"I. Beg. To. Differ." Blaine replied, imitating Kurt's serious tone.

Even after spending almost every Friday night sleeping at each other's houses for the past 10 years, Kurt and Blaine still bickered every single night they had sleepovers. It was never serious and they always laughed about it in the morning, it was just their way of being normal around each other. They didn't put on a false pretense of being constantly polite, they just acted like themselves and that's what made their relationship so sturdy, that's what made them work.

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><p><em>Kurt wasn't the only one who needed comforting. Even though Blaine never cried in front of him and never told him if he was upset about something, Kurt always <em>knew_. He noticed the way his grin didn't quite reach his eyes and how he took longer to reply whenever Kurt would ask him something. _

_It was when Kurt was round Blaine's house one night when he really noticed that something was wrong. He noticed that Blaine's mommy looked sad like Blaine did too. Kurt had always thought of Blaine's mom as his second mom, especially after his own had passed away…It was heartbreaking to see her sad. Blaine's daddy looked unhappy too, he didn't quite seem sad and Kurt wasn't sure what type of unhappy he was. He looked angry and Kurt couldn't figure out why. He had only ever seen Blaine's dad angry when Blaine had done something naughty and he was fairly certain that Blaine had been on his best behavior lately. _

"_Are you sad because your mommy is sad?" Kurt asked when they were in Blaine's room playing mousetrap on the floor. Blaine had just rolled the dice and moved his yellow mouse 3 times, landing on the cheese-wheel. _

"_What?" He said, looking up at Kurt from the game, worry tracing the outlines of his eyes. _

"_You've been sad about something lately and I saw today that your mommy didn't look very happy either, I was wondering if it was because of the same reason." _

"_I'm not sad…" Blaine argued, though Kurt could hear his voice wavering. Kurt rolled the dice and moved his red mouse 2 spaces, landing on a "crank" space. He turned the crank and the two watched as the mouse trap was set in motion and Blaine's mouse was caught within the yellow plastic cage. "You win." Blaine said dejectedly, though Kurt knew he wasn't upset about losing the game. _

"_Why are you sad, Blaine?" Kurt asked, moving across the board to sit beside his friend, linking their fingers together as he took Blaine's hand in his own. Blaine said nothing so Kurt squeezed his hand, letting him know that he really, really wanted to help._

"_My mommy and daddy were gonna get another baby." Blaine said slowly, as if he was still trying to understand the problem himself. "But then my mommy told me that they lost it." Kurt raised a delicate eyebrow._

"_How can you lose a baby?" He asked but Blaine just shrugged. _

"_I don't know. My mommy just cries all the time now, she says all she ever wanted was a big family or something and dad keeps getting angry at everything and that makes mom cry even more. I'm not really sad about the baby because I never even knew the baby but I miss seeing my mom happy and it's really scary when my dad gets mad." Blaine rested his head on Kurt's shoulder as Kurt hugged him tightly._

"_Do you wanna sleep over at my house tonight instead?" Kurt suggested "My dad hardly ever gets angry unless I do something _really_ bad." Blaine nodded shakily and they packed him an overnight bag before walking the short distance to Kurt's house before it got dark outside. _

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><p><strong>Hope you like it! More to come soon, leave a review? :D<br>Also, the flashbacks will become less frequent, I just wanted to bring to light just how close they are. _  
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	2. Football

**Hello there, I bring you chapter 2! (:**

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><p>"Good afternoooon!" Kurt said cheerily as he met Blaine at his locker the following Tuesday, Blaine glanced at him as he retrieved his math homework.<p>

"Someone's happy." He commented, an amused smile playing on his lips.

"Well _someone_ just got an A+ on their French quiz." Kurt explained, holding up the test paper from the day before, '_Tres bon' _and '_magnifique_' scrawled upon it in red pen.

"Congrats" Blaine said, eyebrows raised and nodding slightly.

"You don't seem very excited…be excited for me Blaine!" Kurt accused as Blaine turned back to his locker.

"I am!" he laughed, "But I knew you'd ace that anyway, you speak French fluently."

"Hmmmm true." Kurt said leaning against the lockers and smiling at his paper. "Ready for lunch?" He asked, looking to Blaine as he shut his locker door.

"Yeah, just one thing I've gotta do first." He said walking in the direction of the notice board and pulling out a pen. Kurt followed after him and inquiring look on his face.

"What is it?" He asked.

"I'm trying out for the football team!" He said excitedly as they reached the notice board and Blaine started locating the sign up sheet. Kurt let out a very ungentlemanly snort-laugh.

"Are you serious!" He chuckled. Blaine answered this question by signing his name on the sign up sheet in his even handwriting.

"Yep!"

"Blaine, I know you love football but there _is_ a difference between watching and playing." Kurt stated, he'd always tolerated Blaine's love for football, his dad would often invite Blaine and his father over to watch the game and Kurt would sit through the first few minutes before deciding that his scarf collection desperately needing reorganizing. "And besides," He added, "you're _tiny_, those huge football jocks are gonna crush you!"

"I'm not that short!" Blaine argued. "And I've played before, when you used to go to theatre camp over the summer, my dad would always take me to football camp, I'm actually pretty good." He told him before he strolled off in the direction of the lunchroom leaving Kurt to jog to catch up.

"I don't doubt that, you could run through all of the other player's legs, they won't have a chance at catching you!" Kurt said, keeping his expression totally serious, "unless they step on you." He added, visibly cringing at the thought.

"Okay, you have got to stop with the short jokes because when I get my growth spurt and I'm finally taller than you, you are _so_ going to pay." Kurt just smirked.

"We'll see." He said with an air of confidence. They made it to the cafeteria and got their lunch before taking one of the few empty tables. Kurt and Blaine had always been just Kurt and Blaine. They'd never really bothered to make other friends throughout middle school and when they got to high school they knew that they'd survive just with each other. They mostly slipped under the radar when it came to bullies. Blaine was just your average teenage boy, he avoided confrontation as much as possible and kept his head down and as a result hardly anyone seemed to notice him, let alone care enough to bully him. He occasionally got the odd comment about his hair, it was curly and thick and hung around his face scruffily but he got more hassle from Kurt about his hair than from any bullies and it honestly didn't bother him. He'd just laughed it off.

Kurt often got picked on due his extremely noticeable choice of clothing though it was always verbal, never physical. He used to get called a girl a lot but as he grew older, 'girl' turned to 'gay', and 'gay' turned into much ruder and harsher phrases.

The thing was, Kurt _was_ gay. He knew that and had known for a while but he hadn't actually told anyone, not his dad _or_ Blaine. They were the two people who meant the world to him and he couldn't bring himself to even consider what they might think of him if he told them. It was the only secret he'd ever kept from either of them. He knew (hoped) that the bullies just said the things they did because he had such an interest in 'girly' things like fashion. After all, there wasn't exactly any evidence for them to use against him.

"So you don't think me trying out for the football team is a good idea?" Blaine asked a little sadly as he took a bite out of his pizza.

"No, Blaine, I didn't mean that, I was only teasing!" He said, smiling comfortingly. "If it's something you're interested then go for it!" He shrugged as Blaine laughed. "I'll support you!" Blaine raised an eyebrow in response.

"So you'll come to my games if I get on the team?" He asked

"O…Of course." Kurt said and Blaine didn't miss the slight stutter in his voice. "You'll have to teach me the rules though so I can at least pretend to be having fun." He laughed, winking.

"Nah, you don't have to come, I know you won't enjoy it, don't worry." Blaine said seriously. Kurt could tell that Blaine was lying. It was the one thing that frustrated Kurt the most, Blaine rarely told him what he was really feeling when it came to him. They shared _everything_ but whenever Blaine was genuinely upset at something Kurt did, he'd never admit it. He'd pretend it was nothing and move on, avoiding any and all confrontation at all costs. Even when Kurt would call him out on something, he'd just apologize straight away without even thinking. Blaine valued their friendship so much that he was utterly terrified of doing anything to lose Kurt; he always tried to be a good friend, he wanted to be strong for kurt and always put him first in everything until it just became second nature but Kurt knew that this would only strain their relationship, so he had to work hard at reading Blaine, knowing when something was really bothering him and forcing him to put himself first for a change. This was one of those times.

"No, Blaine I'll go, I promise." He assured, smiling softly and he could see as Blaine's eyes subtly lit up.

"Really? You don't have to, I know you'll be bored…"

"Blaine, do you think I'm going to pass up the chance to see you in an oversized football jersey getting chased around a muddy field by a bunch of jocks twice as big as you?" Kurt laughed. "I wouldn't miss that for the world!" Blaine kicked him under the table playfully

"If I make the team that is." Blaine reminded him.

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><p>Kurt could see Blaine's chest heaving in and out as Coach Tanaka forced them to run laps for the eighth time as he chased them round in what looked like a golf caddy. Blaine wasn't the only one in pain, most of the guys who were already on the team looked like they were about to drop dead as well. Kurt sat in the bleachers watching the tryouts, rubbing his hands together as his fingers started to get numb from the cold, he and Blaine drove to and from school together every day and he didn't want to leave Blaine to have to walk home that day. Although, that wasn't the only reason he stuck around, he was actually enjoying watching Blaine tryout. Not <em>just<em>because he was in terrible pain as Coach blew his whistle, ordering another thirty sit ups but Blaine was his friend and seeing him doing something he loved was always something he wanted to see. Well, if you count forty squat thrusts as something Blaine loved. Kurt couldn't help but notice that several of the guys on the football team were the very same who would often tease him and felt a pang of envy when he realized that Blaine would be spending a lot of his time with them if he made the team. He could see that Blaine knew this though and was pleased when it became obvious that Blaine was doing everything he could to avoid those in particular.

Cheerio practice was also taking place that afternoon and it was sometimes difficult to hear Coach Tanaka, who was directly in front of him, over the obscenely loud comments that Coach Sylvester was screaming through her bullhorn. Kurt found himself chuckling on several occasions until he realized that she was being one hundred percent serious in her demands. He looked over and, yep, there were 14 cheerleaders doing a lap of the field, except instead of running, they were forced to do consecutive cartwheels. Kurt pitied whoever would have to clean up the vomit at the end of the day.

When the cheerleaders ran through their routines though, Kurt couldn't help but be impressed. He was solely there to watch Blaine and the football tryouts but every now and then something would catch his eye and he'd see the immaculate form of the girls. He also noticed how a lot of the girls would steal a glance over to the football guys, smiling seductively and sneered in distaste at just how cliché it was. Typical cheerleader/football player relationship.

Coach blew his whistle, finally ending practice for the day and Kurt stood, making his way down to the field.

"I'll have the notice sheet up by Thursday." He yelled to the guys who were mostly all already jogging back to the locker room. Kurt stood and made his way down to the field to catch Blaine.

"Hey!" Blaine called as he jogged over, his hair sweaty and hanging in his eyes. "You stayed to watch?"

"Of course!" Kurt smiled, loving how pleased Blaine looked. One of the other football players, a dark haired boy who looked far too tall for his age suddenly appeared behind Blaine, clapping him on the shoulder.

"Hey dude." He said "great job to day, hope to see you on the team!"

"Thanks!" Blaine smiled before noticing Kurt's inquiring look. "Uhh, Kurt this is Finn Hudson, the quarterback. Finn this is my best friend Kurt." He introduced. Kurt smiled softly at the other boy, feeling a little uncomfortable while Finn nodded once, a look that Kurt couldn't quite figure out, and wasn't entirely sure if he liked, on his face.

"Go. Shower. You're _not_ getting in my car like…this." Kurt stated, gesturing to Blaine as sweat dripped off his forehead.

"Sure," Blaine laughed, "Meet you in the parking lot?" Kurt nodded and they split.

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><p>"Hey, Anderson," Came a deep gruff voice as Blaine stripped off his sticky shirt. He whipped his head round to find a hulking body with a mean glare directed at him. "Saw you talking to that queer kid out there." He said casually as Blaine's eyes narrowed. "You're not like him are you? Because if you are then I don't want you in here, or on the team for that matter." He said with an unkind sneer. Blaine felt the sting at what he had called Kurt but he knew standing up to the guy would do nothing but get his face smashed into a locker.<p>

"I don't know what you're talking about." Blaine replied, turning his back to the massive football player however a huge hand gripped his shoulder, turning Blaine to face him once again. He put both hands up as he was pushed back against the lockers, the cold metal cutting into his bare back causing him to yelp in pain. Several heads were turned yet no one stepped in to help him. Blaine couldn't help but wonder if they were thinking the same as the guy who had him pinned by the shoulder with one hand and held a threatening fist with the other. His heart pounded against his ribcage but he forced to keep his breathing as steady as possible.

"Don't turn your back to me when I'm talking to you." He hissed "I'm talking about that fag, Hummel, you're not _like_ him, are you? I don't exactly want you freaks coming in here and taking a peak if you know what I mean."

"Kurt's not…" Blaine choked, but he was just shoved back once again.

"I said are you?" the guy growled.

"No." Blaine replied firmly, locking his eyes with the other.

"Good." He said before releasing Blaine as he slumped against the lockers. That was the first time he'd ever actually had a physical confrontation with anybody and it scared the crap out of him. It took him a moment to get his breath back and he didn't notice Finn approach him. He placed a comforting hand on his shoulder causing Blaine to flinch slightly but relaxed when he saw who it was.

"Don't worry about Karofsky, he gives all the new guys a hard time." Finn assured and Blaine tried to believe him but there was something in his eyes that just looked…dangerous. Blaine just nodded and changed quickly, not bothering to shower despite what Kurt had said. He'd have one at home, he just wanted to get away from that Karosky guy.

Blaine was conflicted, he _really_ wanted to join the football team but with him around…

He wasn't even sure why he was so shaken up, he _wasn't gay _so there was no reason for Karofsky to further hassle him. And he was fairly certain Kurt wasn't either, he'd have told him something like that.

"Hey, that was quick." Kurt commented as Blaine met him standing next to his Navigator in the parking lot.

"Yeah I uh…skipped the shower, didn't want to keep you waiting too long." He lied as he put his sports bag in the back and Kurt eyed him with disgust

"Gross Blaine, your hair is soaked with sweat! Put a bag over your head at least, if you get a single drop in my car I will hurt you." Kurt warned. Blaine laughed gently as he opened the passenger door, feeling immediately better now that he was with Kurt.

"I'll keep my bodily fluids to myself." He promised.

"I don't know _how_ many times I've told you to cut it, seriously, you wouldn't have this problem if you did and it wouldn't get in your eyes, might even make you play football better." Kurt tried to persuade him but, as usual, it was in vain.

"Come on, you love my hair, if I cut it, you wouldn't be able to braid it when I sleep!" he laughed and Kurt slapped him playfully on the arm.

"That was one time!" He argued as Kurt started the ignition and drove them home.

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><p><strong>A role on glee will be awarded to those who review! <strong>  
><strong>(Not really)<strong>


	3. Friday Night Dinner

**Just fyi, this is set before/at the very beginning of season 1 ish.**

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><p>Blaine managed to avoid Karofsky the next day. He decided to stick with his football dreams, one person wasn't going to stop him from doing something he loved. Besides, he had no <em>reason<em> to have a problem with him. He also didn't tell Kurt what had happened, not only would it just hurt him, telling him what Karofsky had said about him, but he'd also just worry. Kurt always worried about Blaine, and though it just meant he cared, sometimes Blaine just wished he'd leave things. If he ignored the problem long enough, sooner or later, it would just go away.

"Hey you!" Kurt greeted on Thursday afternoon at Blaine's locker like always. Kurt couldn't help but notice the barely hidden grin on Blaine's face as he greeted him back. "What's up?" He asked curiously.

"Oh nothing…" Blaine said casually, pulling a plastic package out of his locker with some sort of red clothing inside and holding it up proudly "Except I made the team!" He ripped open the plastic and held the football jersey up to his chest and pretended to model it. "You're good with clothes, does it suit me?" He asked playfully but frowned when Kurt said nothing. "You're not happy for me?" He asked slowly, looking astonishingly like a kicked puppy.

"I am. But I knew you'd make the team because you're amazing." He said proudly, beaming at his best friend. "And red definitely suits you." Blaine laughed as he placed the jersey back in his locker.

They made their way to the lunchroom and Kurt glared at Blaine's burger as they sat down. "Shouldn't you be trying to eat healthier now that you're all athletic?" Kurt asked spearing his salad with his fork.

"Nah." Blaine shrugged as he bit into his greasy atrocity.

"Oh, by the way, my dad is going try to cook tomorrow night so be warned." Kurt said grimly. Blaine glanced up, eyes wide with worry.

"Tomorrow…?" He repeated slightly panicked.

"Yeah?"

"Damn, tomorrow's Friday isn't it. Crap I'm so sorry I totally forgot, Finn invited me over tomorrow night with some of the guys to celebrate me getting on the team." Blaine said apologetically.

"But…we always have Friday Dinner and Movie Night." Kurt said, a little hurt. Every Friday since as long as he could remember, Blaine had dinner at theirs and then they'd spend the rest of the night watching movies together. It was his favorite tradition. Blaine didn't miss the hurt in Kurt's eyes and cursed himself for being so forgetful.

"You know what, don't worry, I'll just cancel, this is more important, I mean we were just gonna play video games and stuff." And there he was again, putting Kurt first because that's just how Blaine handled things. Kurt sighed, knowing he shouldn't let Blaine do this all the time.

"No," Kurt sighed, wondering why the hell he was saying what he was "go with…Finn and his friends, you might as well get to know your new teammates, right?" He said, forcing a smile.

"Well…I could ask them if you can come too? I know video games aren't really your thing but-"

"No, it's fine, really, besides, my Dad is really excited about cooking so someone needs to be there ready to put out the fire." Blaine looked miserable. He couldn't believe that he'd forgotten something as important as Friday Dinner and Movie Night. "It's just dinner." Kurt tried to reassure Blaine and himself at the same time.

"I'll make it up to you, I feel terrible." Blaine promised. Kurt smiled in response, trying not to let it show just how much it really did bother him. Because it did. Kurt didn't have other friends that he could turn to when Blaine was busy and, until that day, neither did Blaine.

Blaine had football practice again that day so Kurt drove home alone for the first time in a long while. He offered to wait but Blaine assured him that Finn offered to give him ride. When he got home, he went immediately downstairs to his bedroom, his dad wasn't yet home from work and Blaine would usually come over after school or Kurt would go to Blaine's. He wasn't used to being in such an empty house. He knew he shouldn't be so bothered about it but he just couldn't help it. He'd encouraged Blaine to tryout and forced him to go to Finn's so he had no reason to be upset. He was only encouraging Blaine to do what was best for him but it didn't stop it from hurting so much.

He couldn't be angry at Blaine, Kurt knew this. But that didn't stop the aching void in his chest whenever he reminded himself that Blaine would spend every Tuesday and Thursday after school with his new football friends.

And not to mention Friday Dinner and Movie Night the following day.

Kurt decided to work on some homework to take his mind off things. He was halfway through his sheet of quadratic functions when his Dad, home from work, knocked on his door before coming down.

"Hey bud, I was just looking over the recipe for that Beef Brisket I was gonna do tomorrow night, what's the difference between a shallot and an onion?" He asked cook-book in hand as he walked down the stairs. He looked up from the book scanning the room. "Hey, where's Blaine? This place looks so empty without him" He asked. Kurt sighed.

"Blaine has football practice today." He said, not taking his eyes off his math homework.

"Blaine's on the football team?" Burt asked, seemingly impressed.

"Yes." Kurt answered abruptly. "And to answer your question, a shallot _is_ an onion, it's just a lot smaller and has a milder taste." He explained, hoping to change the subject.

"Uh huh." Burt said, nodding, "Well, I hope yous two like beef, the cut I got is supposed to serve 4-6 people."

"Blaine's…not coming tomorrow night dad." Kurt said, hating that the subject was back on Blaine again.

"What?" His dad exclaimed, "Looks like we'll be having beef sandwiches all next week then. How come he ain't coming?"

"Football thing." Kurt said as an explanation before he suddenly got an idea. "Hey dad, do you think…maybe you could teach me some of the rules for football?"

* * *

><p>"Guess what!" Kurt said excitedly without so much as a 'good morning' as Blaine hopped into his car on Friday morning. Blaine raised his eyebrows questioningly, prompting Kurt to continue as he shut his door and buckled his seatbelt. "I'm trying out for the football team too!"<p>

Blaine's eyes bugged as his mouth fell open, floundering for a reply. Karofsky's words pounded through his skull all too clearly;

_That fag, Hummel._

He couldn't let Kurt anywhere near the guy, if he got brutally shoved into a locker simply for _knowing_ Kurt then…he didn't even want to consider the kind of things Karofsky would do to him. Kurt got called every name under the sun but it had never escalated to anything dangerous. Kurt was strong and he could withstand that but he wasn't so sure if he could hold his own against Karofsky's brute force. No, definitely not.

"Why?" Was what he finally managed to choke out.

"I don't know, I guess I never really gave it a chance before, why? Don't you want me there?" Kurt asked, looking a little hurt and Blaine's heart just ached because no, he didn't want Kurt there but not for the reasons he knew he was thinking. But Kurt had that heartwrenching look on his face and Blaine had caused it and it made him feel like crap.

The truth was, he had _loved_ Kurt being there when he had first tried out. It made him work harder, run faster and do more push ups just so that Kurt could see him and Kurt would be proud of him. He was the typical kid who jumped up and down, waving at his parents in the audience to get them to notice. But he didn't have to jump up and down for Kurt because he noticed him anyway.

"Is this about Friday Night Dinner? Are you sure you're not upset because…honestly you've never been into football at all." Blaine asked and Kurt shrugged, not taking his eyes off the road.

"I just…want us to spend more time together." He replied, slightly uncertain. Blaine furrowed his brows and eyed Kurt curiously.

"Kurt, we spend _all_ of our time together, come on, I know you don't want to do this, what's this really about?"

"Why don't you want me to join so badly?" Kurt snapped angrily as he briefly shot a glare in Blaine's direction before focusing back on the road. Blaine's breath hitched in his throat, he hated fighting with Kurt.

"I-It's not that…" _Yes it is _"I just don't think…"

"Don't think what? That your new friends won't like me?" Kurt shot back, not quite as loud as before but just as venomous. Blaine blinked several times because he wasn't actually that far from the truth, except he would _never _consider Karofsky a friend.

"Kurt, please don't be mad…" begged Blaine.

"Oh, so I'm right?"Kurt spat. "Great."

"No! It's just…well, football's kinda dangerous, you know? I don't want you to get hurt." Kurt sighed in frustration. He hated being treated like he needed protecting all the time. His dad did it enough and he really didn't need it from Blaine. But Blaine was right to an extent, he hated football (even more so now that it had threatened to take Blaine from him) and he really wasn't the athletic type. But seeing Blaine with those guys, with guys who, well, _acted_ like guys had just made him feel so out of place and unneeded.

"Fine," He breathed, "I won't join." The rest of the journey held an unusual silence.

Kurt avoided talking to Blaine for most of the day. They had two classes together and though he still took his seat besides a hopeful looking Blaine, he made sure to angle his chair slightly as to avoid eye contact and any chances of a conversation.

Blaine wasn't surprised when Kurt didn't meet him by his locker at lunch though that didn't stop him from being hurt when he didn't show up. He slammed his locker shut in frustration as he made his way to the cafeteria alone. He scanned the room, looking for Kurt, hoping to sit with him but couldn't find him amongst the sea of students. He reluctantly got his lunch and took an empty table after debating whether or not he really felt like eating at all.

"Hey, Anderson" A boy with a Mohawk, _Puck,_ Blaine remembered, greeted him. "You're eating alone?" He laughed, "That's pathetic." Blaine scowled but was more than surprised when Puck slapped his tray on the table and took a seat opposite him, Finn arriving shortly after.

"You still up for tonight?" Finn asked, shoveling fries into his mouth.

"Uh, yeah." Blaine replied slowly, feeling a twinge of guilt as Finn and Puck started discussing a particularly difficult level on Call of Duty.

Blaine noticed Kurt scanning the lunchroom, looking for anywhere to sit. "Kurt!" He called as he pulled out the empty chair beside him. For a brief moment he actually thought Kurt would take it but instead he strolled passed, barely glancing at Blaine and took a seat on the other side of the room. Blaine hung his head in rejection; he _had _to fix this, as soon as he figured out what exactly was wrong that is.

"Hey, where you going?" Finn asked as Blaine rose to his feet, abandoning his lunch. He ignored Finn's question and instead went to force Kurt to talk to him.

"I don't know _why_ he always hangs round with that Hummel kid." Puck commented as he saw where Blaine was headed. "No wonder Karofsky thinks he's gay."

* * *

><p>"Kurt." Blaine said softly as he sat opposite Kurt, "I don't know why you're mad at me." Kurt glanced up at him before returning his gaze to the algebra text book he had laid out on the table next to his lunch.<p>

"I'm not mad at you." He replied curtly, making his statement somewhat redundant.

"I don't get it." Blaine persisted, "You were upset that we weren't spending as much time together but then you spend the whole day avoiding me? I don't know what you want here…" Kurt said nothing as he highlighted something in his book. "Come on Kurt, we never fight."

"We're not fighting."

"Well then why are you mad at me?" Blaine begged.

"I told you, I'm _not _mad_._"

"So why didn't you sit with me?" Kurt glanced up to the table where Blaine had previously sat. He had planned on sitting there when Blaine pushed the seat out but the look he had been given by the guy with the mohawk as he approached set his hair on edge, that unwelcoming, sit-there-and-get-your-ass-kicked kind of look. Blaine hadn't noticed this however and just assumed Kurt was being stubborn.

"I'm sorry," Kurt sighed, "I know I'm being an idiot…"

"No, I get it, you don't like that I have new friends and you're worried I'm going to forget about you?" Blaine guessed.

"Bingo." Kurt replied quietly, looking down at his hands. Why did Blaine have to know him so well? Blaine simply laughed and Kurt shot him his best bitch glare.

"You've got nothing to worry about, do you honestly think I'd ditch you as soon as I got some new friends?" Kurt scanned his face, seeing the complete look of genuine concern painted there.

"Like I said, I'm an idiot." Kurt said, smiling.

"Maybe a little, come on, why don't you come sit with us?" Kurt froze, he hadn't forgotten the look the mohawked guy had given him but he didn't exactly want to admit to Blaine that he was terrified of his new friend.

"I…I don't…" He stammered

"Come on!" Blaine pressed, "They're nice!" And somehow Blaine managed to get his way as Kurt packed his algebra text book back into his bag and they made their way back to Finn and Puck. "Hey, you remember my friend Kurt, right?" Blaine said by way of introduction, talking mostly to Finn who he had already met. But Finn was the least of Kurt's worries. He didn't miss the pointed look Puck gave his friend and wasn't at all surprised when moments later they both simultaneously stood, excusing themselves weakly and leaving their half eaten lunch at the table.

"They don't like me." Kurt said grimly as Blaine stared after them in dismay.

"I'm sure they just…had somewhere to go." He said attempting to convince both himself and Kurt.

The bell rang several minutes later signaling the end of lunch.

"I guess I'll see you on Monday then?" Kurt said as they returned their trays to the kitchen before leaving for their afternoon classes.

* * *

><p>Kurt ate dinner mostly in silence, his dad had managed to actually cook the Beef Brisket all the way through and it didn't taste all that bad, a little burned here and there extremely heavily garnished with shallots but nobody's perfect. He congratulated his dad on making a half-decent meal and they talked a little about school but that was all they really spoke about. There wasn't an awful lot they had in common so striking up a conversation was always difficult, especially without Blaine there.<p>

Kurt promptly splayed himself out on the sofa face down after he'd eaten with nothing else to do. He flicked through the channels, finding nothing he wanted to watch and eventually just turned the TV off all together, staring instead at the green stand-by light blinking on and off. He'd never realized how boring his house was before without Blaine there and was a little startled at how dependant he'd become of having his best friend around all the time.

He opted on reading a book, so made his way downstairs to his bedroom and, noticing Blaine's copy of _The Great Gatsby _still lying on his bedside table, decided to read that.

Curled up on his living room sofa, he read through the first chapter, still not seeing the appeal that Blaine did but it gave him something to do nonetheless.

He was halfway through chapter three when the doorbell rang and he reluctantly put down the book to answer it. He was dressed in his pajamas and wrapped in his robe and really didn't feel dealing with any guests…_oh okay._

"Blaine." He breathed after he'd hastily opened the door, eyes wide. "What are you doing here?" Blaine smiled goofily in response.

"Any chance of getting some leftovers?" He asked, stepping inside, not needing an invitation because Kurt and Blaine pretty much lived at each other's houses.

"What are you doing here?" Kurt asked, shutting the door and following Blaine into the kitchen, "I thought you were at Finn's?" Blaine took a seat as Kurt warmed up a plate of beef in the microwave.

"I was but it was kinda boring, all they did was talk about girls and Finn's girlfriend, Quinn or something. Plus I really didn't like the way they treated you today." Blaine said apologetically "And I sort of felt terrible about blowing you off like that."

"So basically, you're just here to make yourself feel better?" Kurt teased lightly and Blaine grinned.

"Exactly." He replied slyly as the microwave dinged. Kurt served him his food and joined him at the table. "You know, you could join an after school club too." Blaine suggested, "I mean, I'm gonna be busy with football so it wouldn't hurt for you to try something new, broaden your horizons a little bit."

"I don't know, there's not really any clubs I'm interested in…"

"How about the choir? You love singing." Kurt snorted in response.

"Are you kidding?" He laughed, "Our school's choir is probably the dullest club ever and that Mr. Ryerson kind of gives me the creeps any way." Blaine shrugged and they fell back into that comfortable silence. Just the presence of Blaine somehow made the house seem so much more full of life and Kurt was perfectly happy to just sit in his company and let his thoughts wander. He let his eyes fall on Blaine, imagining the night he'd just given up with his new teammates.

"You didn't have to." He said quietly as Blaine ate.

"What do you mean?" Blaine replied through mouthfuls of food.

"You know, come back here…" Kurt said slowly.

"I wanted to." Blaine admitted, "honestly I'd much rather spend my Friday night with you."

"I'm sorry I got so jealous and stubborn." Kurt said and Blaine just waved it away. Smiling as he finished off his beef and took his plate to the sink

"Well Friday Dinner and Movie Night wouldn't be complete without an all night movie marathon." Blaine suggested, moving towards Kurt's bedroom, Kurt following behind, all doubts and worries evacuated from his mind. Blaine noticed the copy of _The Great Gatsby_ lying on the coffee table as they passed through the living room and eyed it approvingly before picking it up. "I see you're keeping yourself well read." He joked, picking it up, "I thought I'd left this somewhere."

They made their way down to Kurt's basement bedroom and Blaine scanned through Kurt's DVD collection. "How about musical night?" he suggested pulling out several DVDs and piling them into a small stack. "We'll start off with _My fair Lady_ and _Mary Poppins_and we'll work our way up chronologically?" Kurt nodded enthusiastically, pulling his laptop out from under his bed and starting it up as Blaine retrieved several bags of popcorn from his backpack. "I bought these on my way over." He explained, flinging a bag in Kurt's direction as he ripped open his own bag. "They didn't have toffee so I got you sweet instead." He apologized, popping a piece of salted popcorn into his mouth.

"This is fine. Thank you" Kurt said, smiling brightly, opening his bag.

They were soon huddled up on the bed, shoulders firmly pressed together. They didn't speak much; there was nothing really to say. They merely enjoyed each other's company, simultaneously getting lost in the fantasy realms of cinema, listening to the sound of foil bags rustling and popcorn crunching. It was in this moment that Kurt knew he wasn't losing Blaine, he was always pushing Blaine to do what was best for him, ultimately putting himself second which was what he always chastised Blaine for.

After their fourth movie of the night, Kurt yawned deeply, burying his face in Blaine's shoulder as the credits of Annie rolled over the screen.

"Can we sleep now?" He begged, headbutting Blaine's shoulder slightly.

"Come one! It's only 2am! We have time for one more." Blaine said, if he was tired then he certainly didn't show it as he prepared the next film.

"Only?" Kurt whined but it fell on deaf ears as the title screen of _Evita _appeared on his laptop. He groaned as Blaine took his place next to Kurt on the bed, laptop balanced between their knees. "Blaine this movie is over two hours long!"

"So?" Blaine said, ending the debate. Kurt simply groaned again and slumped back against the pillows they had propped up at the end of the bed. It didn't take long for Kurt to fall asleep. His eyes became droopy as he tried to focus on the small laptop screen but it just became blurrier the more he tried to stay awake. His head slumped once again against Blaine's shoulder who continued watching the film unaware that Kurt had long since left the world of the conscious.

Eventually, he glanced sideways and noticed Kurt's eyes closed, his eyelashes softly brushing against his cheeks and the steady rise and fall of his chest against his arm. He didn't have the heart to wake him so instead quietly switched the laptop off and slid them both down into a more comfortable position. Kurt hadn't done his moisturizing routine but he was sure his skin could survive one night with hydration. Blaine attempted to peel Kurt off of him so he could find something to change into since he hadn't brought any pajamas of his own but Kurt clung to his arm relentlessly in his sleep. Blaine laughed softly to himself and gave in; deciding that he would just sleep in his clothes, despite how much Kurt would berate him the next morning for it.

* * *

><p>Kurt awoke the next morning to the overpowering scent of <em>Blaine<em>, more than a little surprised to find his arm draped over Blaine's chest and his face tucked neatly between his shoulder and neck. Blaine's arm in turn was wrapped around Kurt protectively, his hand resting inches away from his hip as he remained fast asleep.

Kurt couldn't even remember falling asleep let alone how they'd manage to end up how they were. His heart beat furiously and he couldn't quite figure out why. He lifted his head slowly, his neck a little stiff from sleeping in such an awkward position. That was when he realized that…oh, okay his neck wasn't the only part of him that was _stiff_. Eyes widening in pure shock at what his body had decided was appropriate, Kurt untangled his and Blaine's limbs as carefully and slowly as possible so as not to wake the other boy. He breathed a sigh of relief when he saw that Blaine had not awoken and quickly hobbled to his bathroom.

_Okay, okay…no, this is _not _okay._ Kurt thought in a panic, the aching stiffness between his legs screaming to be acknowledged. He ran his hands through his ruffled hair in anguish. This was _exactly_ what he had been forcing himself not to feel ever since he had first started to come to terms with the fact that he was gay.

He'd feared for a while that his feelings for Blaine _may_ have been slightly more than just platonic but it was difficult to distinguish the line between close friends and love interest, especially when Blaine was always one to constantly need physical contact with people.

But this was a whole step further. No, more than a step this was another floor in the skyscraper of their relationship. The emotional side was always present, he and Blaine were as close as people could possibly get but it was easy to ignore. This new physical side of things changed everything however and Kurt couldn't stop thinking about everything that was _Blaine_. How firm his arms had been wrapped around him, how close his lips had been to his own. How was he even supposed to be in the same room as him now?

And there was not a single thing he could do about it. Nothing. Because Blaine was straight and didn't even know that Kurt wasn't.

Kurt leaned on the sink, staring at his reflection; face flushed with embarrassment from what he'd woken up to. Why did this have to happen to him? Why couldn't he just be _normal? _He spun round to turn the shower on feeling suddenly very unclean. He reached for the hot tap before deciding that maybe a cold shower might be what he needed to cool off and fix the small predicament he'd found himself in. He couldn't exactly take care of it any other way. Not that he hadn't masturbated before but he didn't even want to think about doing it with Blaine in the next room. Surely that would just make everything ten times worse than it already was.

_Thank God I woke up first_ Kurt thought as he stripped down and found he couldn't bear to even look at it as if that would somehow make it just go away.

The cold water pounded against his flushed skin and eventually Kurt found his body beginning to calm down. He shivered relentlessly as he toweled his hair dry and wiped away the condensation on the mirror to try and calm his nerves before he went out to see if Blaine had awoken yet.

* * *

><p><strong>I'm kind of nervous about this chapter...let me know what you think (:<strong>


	4. Bandages

**Hey there! Firstly, sorry this took a little longer than usual, I had to work all weekend and was far too tired to think straight!**  
><strong>Secondly, I have a shiny new Beta! So hopefully my writing should only improve from now on! :D<strong>

* * *

><p>Kurt couldn't help but stare. His newfound realization had made it near impossible to <em>not<em> notice all the things about Blaine that simply made his heart want to pound out of the confines of his chest. However, he had perfected his poker face over the years and managed to keep any and all feelings he had that went beyond friendship firmly locked away for no one to see except himself; the key hidden securely for no one to find.

That didn't stop him from admiring in the privacy of his own thoughts, despite how much he tried to force himself to stop. When Blaine was leaning into the bottom cupboard, it was near impossible not to notice how his pants clung in all the right places or how the outline of his briefs was very visible.

_No, No, _No! _Thinking about Blaine in his underwear is not going to help, _Kurt thought hopelessly as he buried his face in his arms at the breakfast table.

Blaine just _had_ to be this perfect guy with his perfect smile and his perfect personality and his perfect biceps and his perfect ass and _no, _he shouldn't be thinking about Blaine like this, it was weird and creepy and they'd been friends for, like, ever.

"Kuuurt!" Blaine whined suddenly. "You're all out of that coffee I like!" Kurt glanced up from his arms to glare at Blaine.

"So? Just use the instant stuff," Kurt said.

"Are you crazy? I'd rather just have hot water," Blaine scoffed, holding the jar of instant as though it were rat poison.

"Well have hot water then."

"Come on, let's go to the Lima Bean," Blaine decided, placing both hands on the table and forcing Kurt to remove his face from his arms.

"I am not driving us to the Lima Bean. It's too early and _you_ had me up all night," he argued, before going bright red at what he had just said. If Blaine noticed, he didn't say anything as he started to go in search for something.

"Fine, I'll drive myself. Where're your car keys?" Blaine asked.

"You are _not _driving my baby!" Kurt exclaimed. Since he had gotten it for his sweet sixteen, he had cherished it like his own child.

"Aw, come on!" Blaine said, still looking for the keys, dangerously close to where they actually were hidden. Kurt promptly rose to his feet and swiped them before Blaine could, moving towards the living room.

"No," he stated resolutely.

"Please? You never let me drive your car," Blaine begged, clasping his hands together.

"With good reason!" Kurt countered.

Blaine opened his mouth to argue, but Kurt beat him to it. "You crashed my bicycle into a tree when we were nine, you drove your old remote control car into the lake, and need I remind you about your very first driving lesson?" Kurt said, counting the reasons off on his fingers.

"Oh come on, I passed my test eventually!" Blaine said, folding his arms.

"No," Kurt said again, clenching the keys in his hands, holding Blaine's glare with his own. They stood for several moments, staring at each other in silence before Blaine suddenly leapt towards Kurt in an attempt to grab the keys. Kurt stumbled backwards, hitting the doorframe. He realized Blaine fully intended to take the keys by force and proceeded to run for his life, Blaine chasing him until they both ended up on either side of the sofa. Blaine took a step to his right and Kurt went the opposite way. Blaine narrowed his eyes, taking a step to the left only for Kurt to do the same. He paused for all of two seconds before leaping over the sofa, tackling Kurt to the ground. Kurt struggled relentlessly against him, kicking his legs and pretending to scream, trying not to laugh at the same time. When Blaine straddled Kurt's hips and pinned both his arms above his head, their faces just inches apart, Kurt's breath hitched in his throat, realizing how close they were.

He could feel the tingling throughout his body, the butterflies in his stomach, and mentally begged it to stop. Blaine was pressed right up against him, there would be no explaining it if he were to have a repeat of that morning.

"Now, give me the keys," Blaine said playfully.

"Get off me," Kurt begged, squeezing his eyes shut. He opened his hand, allowing Blaine to take the keys with a triumphant cheer as he released Kurt from his hold, not noticing his discomfort. Kurt breathed a weighted sigh and mentally cursed puberty for these new physical urges. He and Blaine had wrestled like that plenty of times, Blaine almost always winning despite his small stature, and Kurt had never felt anything as prominent as that before.

"You know, I'm going to charge you for grand theft auto," Kurt said, trying to keep his tone even as he brushed himself off. Blaine laughed before responding.

"Then I guess you'll have to add kidnapping to that too because you're still coming with me." He said with a mischievous smile painted across his lips and _oh God, stop staring at his lips. _Blaine grabbed Kurt around the waist and dragged him to the door and Kurt simply did not have the energy to protest, despite the fact that he was still wearing slippers because _Blaine's hand was around his waist._

"I hate you," Kurt said as he slumped in the passenger seat, Blaine still insisting on driving since he held the keys.

"Love you too," Blaine said with a smirk. Kurt refused to acknowledge the increased rate of his heartbeat at the words.

* * *

><p>Miraculously, Blaine managed to not crash Kurt's car during their early morning coffee run. They spent the rest of the day studying together. More accurately, Kurt studied while Blaine shuffled around the dancing to Lady Gaga in a poor attempt at what he thought was an imitation of Kurt. Kurt merely scoffed and returned to his History textbook.<p>

They spent Sunday at Blaine's house watching TV and just being lazy together, and Kurt couldn't even remember feeling like he was losing his best friend.

Eventually Monday came and Kurt had to face the prospect of school for another week. It was Blaine's turn to drive them both to school so Kurt hurriedly styled his hair and pieced together his outfit before waiting for Blaine to pull up. He'd managed to make it the whole weekend in Blaine's company without doing anything mortifyingly stupid, and their relationship had carried on as normal much to Kurt's relief. He was certain he'd be able to just carry on as they had been, ignoring his budding feelings, burying them as deep as possible until they simply ceased to exist.

He glanced at his watch repeatedly, wondering what was taking Blaine so long. If he didn't hurry, they'd be late. He crossed his arms impatiently. Kurt knew he should never be left alone with his thoughts; he always started second guessing himself and over analyzing everything and this time was no exception. The longer Blaine took, the more he managed to convince himself that he had accidentally said or done something over the weekend that had ultimately ruined their friendship. He knew it was stupid but he couldn't help the paranoia.

Blaine didn't even know that Kurt was gay, and Kurt had no idea how he would take it if he ever did tell him. He desperately wanted to tell him, because that's what they did, that's how they worked, they told each other everything but lately Kurt's list of secrets just continued to grow. He wanted to tell him but he was scared. What if Blaine found it weird? What if he jumped to the conclusion that Kurt liked him and got freaked out and left?

He knew that wasn't the sort of person Blaine was-he'd never shown any form of prejudice towards gays before-but the more Kurt thought about it the more it became apparent that he'd never expressed _any_ form of opinion towards them before. That's why it was so difficult to predict how Blaine would react.

He leaned against the front door, eyes squeezed shut. He had to tell _someone_ and Blaine was always his first choice when it came to secrets or doubts or worries. He didn't want to be in the closet, he was always expressive and opinionated and this shouldn't be an exception but it was. Because he lived in Lima and Lima wasn't exactly the most gay-friendly place in America. He wanted to tell Blaine, he _needed_ to, just so he could hear it from his own mouth, just so someone else could know-that would make it seem that much more _real._

He had to tell Blaine. Maybe he'd skip over the part where he was completely in love with him but he needed to tell him that he liked guys at least.

Blaine eventually honked his car horn outside bringing Kurt out of his thoughts as he spun round to leave. He had to tell Blaine, he had to.

But as soon as he saw that bright smile dance across his face when he opened the passenger door all thoughts of coming out to Blaine fled his mind like a flock of doves.

Because _what if?_ What if Blaine didn't take it well? What if this was the last time he picked him up for school in the morning? What if it ruined everything?

"Morning, sorry I'm late," Blaine apologized as Kurt pulled the door shut. "I went to the Lima Bean and got us some coffees. One non-fat mocha," he handed Kurt a steaming hot cup, "to make up for spilling mine in your car on Saturday," He finished sheepishly.

"You _what?_" Kurt exclaimed.

"Sorry!" he replied hastily "It was just a tiny drop, hardly noticeable!"

"And _that_ is exactly why you're never allowed to drive my car." Kurt huffed, taking a sip and relishing in the taste. "You're cleaning it."

"Deal," Blaine agreed as he pulled away from the curb.

The short drive to McKinley was filled with Blaine singing along to the radio and Kurt rolling his eyes, reminding him to keep his eyes on the road.

"Shoot, there are no parking spaces left," Blaine said as they pulled into the school lot.

"That's what you get for showing up 20 minutes late this morning," Kurt sighed.

"Well maybe next time I won't bother with a nice gesture," Blaine joked, "You go on, I'll see if there's any spaces across the street."

"You sure?" Kurt asked.

"Go!" Blaine urged with a light shove and Kurt unbuckled his belt and slipped out of the car. "I'll see you second period."

Kurt shut the door and pulled the strap of his bag tight around his shoulder as he made his way to the building. He and Blaine usually arrived in plenty of time before everyone else started to gather, and he wasn't used to seeing so many people outside in the morning. Crowds always tended to make him nervous, so Kurt hunched his shoulders in an attempt to keep to himself.

He finished the last few dregs of his coffee before taking a quick detour to the dumpster to discard the empty cup.

"Hey there, doll-face," came a threatening voice, and Kurt instinctively spun around to locate the source. A mohawked boy from the football team was approaching him, flanked by three other football jocks, one of which he recognized as Finn, the other two he had never seen before.

"Good one, Puck," one of them laughed, giving him a high five.

"What do you want?" Kurt asked the boy who was apparently named Puck, attempting not to sound half as frightened as he was but failing miserably as his voice came out in a strangled squeak. The boys laughed as they continued to stroll towards him menacingly, leaving him no choice but to back up until his back hit the metal of the dumpster. His eyes scanned over the four boys, trying to decipher what they were planning until Puck spoke again.

"Blaine's one of _our_ boys now. You can pine after him all you want but it's only making him look bad," Puck explained as one of the others snickered. "Some of the guys are already starting to think he swings for your team."

"I-I'm not-" Kurt tried to argue but a strong hand brutally shoved his shoulder firmly back against the dumpster.

"Save it. Now we're gonna need you to stop spreading your fairy dust everywhere, you got that?"

Kurt just scowled. He wanted to scream at them that Blaine was _his,_ but he knew better. Besides, Blaine wasn't a possession-he didn't belong to anyone.

"I _said_ you got that, Hummel?" Puck emphasized, pushing him back against the dumpster once again. He could already start to feel the bruises forming.

"You can't stop me from being Blaine's friend just because you don't like me," Kurt sneered, surprising himself with how even he managed to keep his voice. The only laughed in response before crowding tighter around him. Kurt looked helplessly around for a teacher or _someone_ who could help him. He had no idea what they planned to do but couldn't stop the tremble in his knees as they moved closer.

His eyes bulged as he saw Blaine walk by in the distance; he must have found a parking space and was on his way to class. He didn't notice the small crowd around the dumpster, but Kurt still swelled with hope as he attempted to call out Blaine's name. Before he could even utter the first syllable, however, one of the jocks' hands clamped over his mouth. He tried to struggle out of the grasp but before he could register what was happening, someone grabbed his shoulders and spun him round, hooking their arms under Kurt's shoulders and pinning him against them as Puck rolled up his sleeves. Kurt's eyes widened-they were actually going to beat him to a bloody pulp. He struggled against the hold of the football player, but it was of no use. Kurt squeezed his eyes shut, anticipating the horrendous pain that was about to come.

"Hey, I thought you said we weren't actually gonna hurt him?" Finn spoke, sounding uneasy and Kurt sent the most grateful look his way as Puck lowered his arm to glare at his friend. He tried to convey his best _help me_ face but Finn was no longer looking at him.

"Dude, come on, it's just Hummel," Puck said, throwing a sneer in his direction as Kurt's chest heaved with fear.

"Yeah but…Don't you think hitting him is a little harsh?" Finn continued to argue. Puck just rolled his eyes before moving back to Kurt. Expecting a brutal blow to his face, Kurt yelped in surprise when he felt his feet being lifted off the ground. Puck and the other jock swung him several times before releasing him, limbs flailing briefly until he landed, face-first into a pile of garbage. His shoulder hit the metal inside of the dumpster but he suppressed the sob that threatened to escape as he heard them howling with laughter. He remained still, trying to block out the smell as he waited for them to leave.

He wasn't going to cry, he was _not_ going to cry.

The dumpster vibrated violently as one of the jocks kicked it, sending a jolt through Kurt as he willed them desperately to just leave so he could suffer through his embarrassment alone. Eventually the laughter faded as Kurt pushed himself up onto his knees. He wobbled slightly as he stood, trying to get his footing, holding onto the edge of the bin for support. It was then that he realized getting out would be much more difficult than getting in had been. He looked around; the parking lot had been vacated as almost everyone had hurried inside to class. At least no one would witness Kurt's fumbling in his attempt to free himself.

He took a few breaths to steady himself, gripping firmly onto the metal.

He was not going to cry.

He heaved himself up, feet clawing at the smooth metal, trying to find some leverage. He didn't quite have the upper body strength to keep him up for long and soon enough he slipped down and landed right back where he had started. Tears of frustration and humiliation gathered but he shook them away.

He was not going to cry.

He arranged some of the trash bags to give himself something to stand on and, planting his elbows over the edge, managed to get a leg over and haul himself out of the dark confines of the dumpster. He landed awkwardly on the ground, twisting his ankle and yelping in pain. His day seemed to be getting worse and worse but he refused to cry. He limped on his sore foot gently, testing it before deciding it was strong enough to carry him to the bathroom.

He'd missed the beginning of first period and didn't feel like making up an excuse as to why he was late, so opted to spend the rest of the hour trying to get the smell of garbage out of his clothes and finally letting the tears roll down his face like they had been threatening to do all morning. He looked at himself in the mirror as he finally felt the release that crying gave him. Seeing his eyes instantly fog up and turn red. He'd been called names before, been given glares from people as they walked by but now that it had escalated to being tossed into a disgusting dumpster, he couldn't help but feel utterly vulnerable and rejected. The fact that these people were Blaine's _friends _only made the hurt grow until it choked him.

He didn't even try to stop them as more and more tears gathered and spilled from his eyes, dampening the shirt that was already ruined. He gripped the edge of the sink as he watched himself, mesmerized by the trickle of the salty tears painting tracks down his face.

Moving to the nearest toilet, he pulled himself some paper before attempting to calm himself, dabbing at his eyes as he forced himself to breathe slowly. His breath hitched several times as the sobs still escaped but eventually the tears stopped and the only evidence of the fact that he had been crying were his slightly reddened cheeks. He waited out the rest of first period, perched on top of a toilet lid, his legs folded and drawn up to his chest. He found himself incredibly lonely, the silence creeping in once his sobs had abated.

When the bell finally rung, he reached for his bag and finally made his way to meet up with Blaine, limping still, but had otherwise he had covered up all evidence of his morning dumpster toss.

Anyone else would have thought Kurt had had a perfectly normal morning, but Blaine wasn't anyone, he immediately saw that something wasn't right the moment his eyes fell on his friend.

"What's wrong?" he asked as they walked together to their English class. Kurt shrugged it off, smiling at his friend. The last thing he needed was for Blaine to get involved. They were his new friends after all, and he didn't want to complicate things.

"Nothing's wrong," he replied in what he hoped was a cheerful voice.

"Why are you limping?" he questioned, eyeing Kurt suspiciously.

"I…twisted it getting out of your car this morning. It's fine though," he lied, trying to walk normally to prove his point, but ended up hissing in pain. Blaine rolled his eyes and put Kurt's arm over his shoulder for support.

"Come on," he said, changing their direction, "I'm taking you to the nurse's office to have that looked at, and then you can tell me what's _really_ wrong." Kurt wanted nothing more than to just lean on Blaine and let him take care of him but the moment he spotted Puck and his friends coming around the corner, he hurriedly hopped away from Blaine. It would only cause trouble for the both of them to be seen with their arms around each other.

"Blaine, honestly I'm fine. I just need to walk it off," he said, resuming the path to their English classroom. Blaine caught Puck's eye and offered a friendly smile as he passed, not knowing that he was the exact reason Kurt was so shaky.

"Are you sure?" Blaine asked, catching up to Kurt. "You're limping pretty badly."

"Positive," Kurt stated, and Blaine knew that it was useless to argue, Kurt was stubborn like that.

"If it gets any worse, promise me you'll go see the nurse," Kurt managed to end the discussion there with a small smile and nod as they entered the classroom, though Blaine's concern was not yet put to rest.

Blaine managed to steal quick glances at his friend throughout the day, noticing how he always seemed to be on the lookout for something or someone when they were together and how he flinched whenever someone called his name or accidentally brushed his shoulder. He knew Kurt didn't like crowds of people, but it had never been this bad before.

Kurt was no better by the time lunch came around as he met Blaine by his locker; smiling to try and fool the world into thinking he was fine.

After school, Blaine could tell that Kurt was itching to get home and put the day behind him. He had still refused to go to the nurse about his foot, and he could see that it was still giving him pain.

"Want me to carry you back to the car?" Blaine joked, though his tone was still laced with concern.

"I'm fine," Kurt replied slightly irritably. He hated having to monitor his relationship with Blaine, not only because of what others were starting to think of him and Blaine, or the threats he'd received from Puck, but also because he was still deeply confused about his own feelings. He didn't want to let himself get too close for fear of how his feelings might affect their friendship but he couldn't exactly _stop_ being close to Blaine-that would just draw attention to the fact that something was up, and Blaine was already concerned enough as it was.

They reached the steps by the front entrance and Kurt eyed them with distain, deciding that completely distancing himself from Blaine would simply be foolish. He paused slightly before putting his arm over Blaine's shoulder for support.

"Maybe it still hurts a bit," he admitted as Blaine wrapped an arm around Kurt's waist, sending chills racing up and down his spine. They slowly started down the stairs, taking each step one at a time.

"I told you to go to the nurse," Blaine said adamantly and Kurt just rolled his eyes.

"Since when do I ever listen to what you tell me?" Kurt laughed as he hopped down the last step, but Blaine's hold remained firm.

"That's true," Blaine agreed as they continued towards Blaine's car. "I had to park a little far down the street, you sure you don't want me to carry you?" Blaine offered. Kurt shook his head.

"This is fine," he said. Actually it was more than fine, just having Blaine there to physically support him made his awful day seem a bit brighter. Having Blaine's arms wrapped around him made all of his doubts and worries melt away. Even his foot didn't seem to hurt as much though that was probably because he wasn't walking on it. Still, he had Blaine to thank for that.

They went to Blaine's house that day and Blaine helped Kurt from the car and supported him until they were inside.

"Wait here." Blaine urged Kurt to sit down on the sofa and rest his foot on the leather pouffe before disappearing into the kitchen, returning a few moments later with an ice pack and a small first aid kit. He knelt beside Kurt's outstretched leg, taking off his shoe and sock and pressing the ice pack gently against his ankle. Kurt breathed in at the sudden coldness biting against his skin. "Does it still hurt?" Blaine asked, Kurt nodded slightly in response as he watched Blaine work. "It's really swollen," Blaine noted, pressing his fingers lightly into the corner of his ankle, but retracting them immediately when Kurt let out a hiss of pain. He balanced the ice pack on Kurt's ankle and opened the first aid kit. "Leave that on there for about ten minutes. You really should have gone to the nurse earlier," he chided.

"You make a much better nurse than Miss Redford," Kurt said smiling the first real smile he'd had all day, despite the pain in his foot. Blaine laughed as he rummaged through the first aid box.

"Now I'm sure there was a roll of compression bandages in here somewhere," he muttered to himself as he searched the box. "Aha!" he exclaimed victoriously, pulling a pair of scissors and a roll of light brown bandages from the box. He began wrapping Kurt's foot, starting near the toes and working his way up. Kurt found the application incredibly relaxing, all stresses he'd had from the day draining away.

* * *

><p>"<em>Kurt, are you okay?" Blaine asked worriedly as Kurt clutched his knee, eyes wide with shock. Blaine had insisted that they try to climb the tree in his backyard, last one to the top being deemed a rotten egg. Kurt had initially complained about his sweater getting covered in dirt, but Blaine had persisted and Kurt shakily started to climb the tree. He lost his footing and slipped before he could get to the second branch, landing heavily on his hands and knees at the foot of the tree. It wasn't a long drop, but to a 7-year-old, he might as well have fallen off the empire state building. Blaine hopped down the moment he saw that Kurt had fallen, crouching down beside him.<em>

_Kurt nodded as Blaine placed his hand comfortingly on Kurt's shoulder._

"'_M fine," he mumbled shakily, but the moment he took his hands away from his knee and saw the pooling crimson flow from his knee and stain his cotton shorts, there was no stopping the fat tears that rolled down his cheek. _

_He clutched at Blaine's shoulder, bawling into his shirt."It hurts," he whimpered. "It hurts a lot, I want my mommy." _

"_Wait here." Blaine commanded, peeling Kurt off of him and making a run for his house. He returned several moments later with a small green plastic box. Kurt sniffled as Blaine fished around before pulling out some antiseptic wipes. "Your mommy is at work and my mommy is busy upstairs right now but I can do this stuff pretty good. This is gonna hurt a little though, okay?" Kurt sniffled again and nodded as Blaine took out a wipe. He cleaned up the blood along Kurt's leg but when he brushed it over the wound, Kurt let out a sob. _

"_I'm sorry." Blaine said, a pained expression on his face. _

" _S'fine." Kurt assured him, smiling despite the pain. _

_When the blood was cleaned up, Blaine took out a box of Power Ranger band-aids and let Kurt select his favorite. He peeled the back off as carefully as possible and placed it gently over Kurt's knee._

"_Does it still hurt?" He asked worriedly, Kurt nodded slightly._

"_Yeah, but not as much as before." Blaine helped Kurt to his feet slowly. "Thank you Doctor Blaine," Kurt said before throwing his arms around his friend._

* * *

><p>"Thanks Blaine," Kurt said when Blaine had finished wrapping his foot and took a seat beside him on the sofa. Blaine smiled softly in response.<p>

"I'll always be here to patch you up."

* * *

><p><strong>asdjkhfsdjkgl I love writing baby!Klaine :')<strong>


	5. Date

**Readers, this is Chapter five. Chapter five, meet the readers, play nicely now!**

* * *

><p>"So how's the ankle?" Blaine asked casually, brushing a stray piece of hair out of his eyes as he waited for Kurt by his locker.<p>

"It's much better. I would have come in yesterday but my dad literally _forced_ me to stay home and rest it. I can walk a lot easier now though," Kurt replied, smiling. It really wasn't as bad as everyone had made it out to be. After a day's rest it barely hurt at all but he had secretly enjoyed being doted upon by his dad and Blaine.

"Good to hear," Blaine said cheerfully. "I missed you yesterday." Kurt gave an awkward smile in response; Blaine always said things like that, but for the first time, Kurt was starting to actually _hear_ what he was saying and wish that there was something more behind it. Of course, there wasn't; Blaine was just being Blaine.

"So how was football practice?" Kurt asked, hoping to change the subject. Blaine shrugged.

"It was okay."

"What, did you lose interest already? You have the attention span of a squirrel, I swear," Kurt joked.

"No, it's just Cheerio practice is on Tuesdays as well, and, well, it's kind of distracting, I kept dropping the ball and Coach was yelling at me," Blaine explained and Kurt found himself wishing he had never asked.

"Like a said, attention span of a squirrel," Kurt replied turning back to his locker.

"What's that supposed to mean?" Blaine challenged, laughing slightly.

"You can't keep your eyes off them for five minutes, can you Blaine?" Kurt said, trying to make out like Blaine's clear interest in the opposite sex had no reason to bother him in the slightest.

"What?" Blaine laughed loudly. "Please, I can control myself." The way Blaine's eyes locked on his for just a moment longer than necessary sent Kurt's heart fluttering and _why_ did he have to feel this way for his best friend? It just seemed wrong on so many levels. Kurt managed to keep his face straight as Blaine continued. "I was talking about their coach, she's psycho," he said.

"Oh yeah, her." Kurt laughed. "I saw her when I was watching you try out. At first I thought she was just kidding."

"You tell that to the girls who had to do an inverted pyramid," Blaine said crossing his arms and leaning against the lockers. Kurt looked at him dubiously.

"You're not serious?" Blaine nodded.

"I'm absolutely serious. There was one girl at the bottom supporting the weight of five others and when they tried for a fourth row the whole thing just collapsed." Kurt winced as Blaine continued. "Then Coach Sylvester started yelling through her bullhorn that they were sloppy and not trying hard enough and Coach Tanaka started yelling at me and the guys for not staying focused and…there was a lot of yelling." Blaine sighed.

"Sounds rough," Kurt responded. Blaine nodded as Kurt shut his locker and they began walking to their next class.

Kurt took his usual seat directly in front of Blaine and pulled his textbook from his bag in preparation for the lesson. The teacher shortly arrived, silencing the class as he began to write several problems on the blackboard. Kurt hastily copied them into his work book. He glanced up at the board to read the next problem, noticing the girl in front of him in the Cheerio uniform looking at him, smiling in an oddly friendly way that Kurt didn't recognize. He ignored her and turned his attention back to the blackboard and his work. When he looked up again, she was still staring, he shifted in his seat a little, uncomfortable under the attention though it didn't seem malicious like he had grown used to.

He once again returned to his work and started the first problem when a tapping on his desk broke his attention. He turned to the cheerleader.

"Pass this to Blaine," she whispered, sliding a folded piece of paper in front of him. Kurt looked at it wearily, and then back at the girl. Of course, she hadn't been staring at him, but at Blaine who was sitting directly behind him.

_How does being on the football team suddenly make him Mister Popular? _Kurt thought as he snatched the note from the desk. He briefly considered tearing the thing up, but he knew that would be unfair to Blaine. Just because he had a s_tupid_ crush didn't mean he had the right to ruin any other potential relationship Blaine could have with somebody else. It wasn't like he had a chance with Blaine anyway. He checked that the teacher was still facing the blackboard and turned, placing it in front of Blaine who seemed oblivious to the girl who had been staring.

"You have mail," he said in a hushed tone, gesturing with his eyes to the girl who waved coyly with her fingers. Blaine narrowed his brows and waved awkwardly back in response. Kurt watched curiously as Blaine unfolded the note and read through it, noticing how his eyebrows raised at certain points. He didn't miss the very prominent blush on his face as he slipped the note into his front pocket and continued with his work.

Kurt looked back towards the girl who was still smiling seductively at Blaine. Of course she was beautiful, long, straight blonde hair held up in a high ponytail, a slender figure, and her piercing blue eyes. Not that Kurt was into any of those things, but he knew what guys liked and they liked girls just like _her_. He couldn't stop his jealousy; he'd already started to lose Blaine to his new football friends. He could only be split so many ways and Kurt's portion was getting smaller and smaller. He knew it was unfair to be so possessive, but Blaine had always been his and he had been Blaine's.

They had grown up doing everything together but dating girls was one thing Kurt couldn't experience with his best friend and Blaine was going to be doing it whether Kurt liked it or not.

"Someone's popular," Kurt commented as they left the classroom after a grueling hour of math problems. "Come on, what did the note say?" he asked teasingly. Despite his feelings, he was never going to pass up a chance to ridicule is friend.

"I'm not…one hundred percent sure. It was full of spelling and grammar mistakes, but I think the gist of it is that she likes me," Blaine said, sounding a little uneasy. Kurt couldn't deny the obvious sinking feeling as his heart settled down into his stomach. He knew what the girl's intentions were but hearing Blaine say it just made it more real. "I've never had a girl like me before," Blaine admitted, looking a little panicked. "It's weird; I don't know what to do."

"Well…do you like her?" Kurt asked tentatively, hating where the conversation was going. Blaine shrugged.

"I don't know. I barely know her," Blaine said slowly. "I'm not even sure if she signed her name as Brittany or Brianna or…something, her handwriting is really swirly." He gestured with his hands.

"Blaine!" a female voice called, and Kurt didn't need to turn around to know who it was. They both stopped in the middle of the hallway as the blonde cheerleader caught up with them.

"Hey err…Brittany," Blaine guessed, looking nervous. He breathed a sigh of relief when she didn't correct him.

"Did you get my note?" She asked, daring to place her hand on Blaine's arm and he stiffened under her touch. Kurt was too busy mentally scowling at her to notice. _Of course he received your note, you saw him read it._

"Yeah, thank you, that was…very nice of you." Kurt looked despairingly between the two; it was possibly the worst display of flirting he had ever witnessed. Brittany's was over the top and downright embarrassing to watch; Blaine's was just all-together bad in every sense of the word.

"I love your hair," She said, smiling. She raised her hand to twist one of Blaine's curls as he looked around uncomfortably, not used to such forward behavior. "You look just like one of those cute hobbits that live in my basement. So what do you say? Wanna go out with me on Friday?" She fluttered her eyelashes flirtatiously. Both Kurt and Blaine were little caught off guard by her eccentricity but mostly, Kurt just wanted to gag. He wasn't aware that this sort of cliché actually existed in real life. Blaine appeared not to notice however and smiled apologetically as he looked over at Kurt.

"I kind of already have plans for Friday," he said, looking genuinely sorry.

"How about Saturday then?" she offered.

"Um, I guess I could do Saturday. Sure," Blaine agreed and Kurt's mouth fell open. She was pretty, yeah, but Blaine was actually into _this_ kind of girl? Blaine watched documentaries about space and read _The Great Gatsby_ in his spare time; she looked like she could barely read the TV listings.

"Great, pick me up at eight?" she asked. Blaine nodded before she strutted away, swinging her hips and making good use of her Cheerio skirt as it danced around her thighs.

"You have _got_ to be kidding me!" Kurt said as they continued walking. He didn't even bother hiding his distaste. He had been prepared to pretend to like the girl, but after her spectacular performance of 'dumb cheerleader who just wants any guy in the vicinity', he was less than impressed.

"What?" Blaine asked defensively. "She seems…nice."

"You think everyone's nice!" Kurt exclaimed, remembering how he'd described his new football friends as 'nice' before they tossed him into a dumpster.

"So, she's _not _nice?" Blaine asked, sounding almost as ditzy as the cheerleader. Kurt sighed.

"I just…didn't expect her to be your type," Kurt explained, a little calmer.

"I don't really know what _my type_ is; I've never dated anyone before," Blaine shrugged, "and she's the first girl to even show an interest in me, I might as well give it a shot. Who knows what could happen?"

Kurt decided to let it go, knowing nothing he could say would change anything, and would just make Blaine upset with him. The more he acted out against Blaine dating, the more obvious it became that he wasn't okay with the idea. With any luck, he might see what Kurt saw when he actually spent more time with the girl.

_Or maybe he won't and he'll instead find her charming and they'll fall in love and Blaine will spend all of his time with her and won't have time for me anymore and_… Kurt breathed deeply. He really needed to just stop thinking.

"So, where are you going to take her?" Kurt asked. He was trying; he'd support Blaine even if it made the knot in his chest ache and lurch at the very thought of Blaine being with a girl. There wasn't much he could do about it, he couldn't exactly force Blaine into liking guys and even if he could, he was still sure that he wouldn't.

"I don't know; maybe go to a movie or something." Blaine sighed. "Is that what you do on dates? I mean would that be okay?" he asked, looking towards Kurt whose eyes widened as he shrugged in response.

"I-I don't know, I've never really gone on one before either, remember?" Kurt said, attempting a small laugh. "I guess a movie would be okay, but let her pick which one; you have awful taste in movies," Kurt said.

"I do not!" Blaine argued.

"Last time we went to the movie theatre you made me sit through _Saw_ V."

"What's wrong with _Saw_?"

"I didn't sleep for a week after seeing that film, not to mention it didn't even make any sense," Kurt huffed.

"That's because you hadn't seen the first four in the series," Blaine said as he crossed his arms.

"Trust me, Blaine, let her pick the film."

"Alright, you're the boss." Blaine laughed as they separated ways to go to their next classes.

* * *

><p>Kurt spent the rest of the week worrying constantly about Blaine's date. He was pretty certain that he'd spent more time fretting over it than Blaine did himself. He caught Brittany on more than one occasion winking suggestively at Blaine, who just beamed back at her a little flushed from the attention.<p>

He noticed that more often than not she was flanked by two other cheerleaders, another blonde and a darker-haired one. Whenever she'd speak to Blaine, twirling her hair and leaning against the lockers, Kurt stood to the side awkwardly and couldn't help but notice that the dark-haired girl would usually look around unimpressed while the other would just seem to turn her nose up at the world. They were both infinitely fiercer than innocent Brittany and Kurt made a mental note to _never_ get on their bad sides.

He'd seen Brittany's two friends around school a few times, invoking terror in the other students from the top of the food chain. He had often seen the other blonde hanging off the arm of Finn and assumed she was the girlfriend that Blaine had mentioned, Quinn. She sneered at any other girl who so much as _looked_ at her boyfriend and marked her territory by planting a kiss in the center of his mouth as often as she could. Kurt found himself immensely grateful that neither of these two girls had decided to crush on his best friend-Brittany may have been a cheerleader and a bit of an airhead, but at least she wasn't mean.

Blaine already had friends that hated Kurt-he wasn't sure he could handle a girlfriend who hated him as well.

Blaine spent Friday night at Kurt's as usual; they had dinner with Kurt's dad before watching a movie then spent several hours just chatting like they always did. It was a normal Friday Dinner and Movie Night save the fact that Kurt knew Blaine's mind was elsewhere. He couldn't really blame him, his first real date was the next day, but it didn't stop the sting whenever Kurt had to repeat what he had said because Blaine wasn't listening the first time.

Sleeping in the same bed was beginning to be a problem. He tried not to make contact under the covers but Blaine tended to move about in his sleep a lot so on more than one occasion is became necessary to physically shove him to his own side of the bed to avoid any mishaps. However, Blaine was relentless even in his sleep and Kurt felt an intense electric shock jolt through his spine whenever he felt Blaine's hot breath against the back of his neck.

"You okay?" Blaine asked as Kurt yawned for the umpteenth time the next morning. Kurt was always an early bird and probably the most irritating morning person ever. Yawning for him was a rarity and Blaine knew that whenever he did, something was up.

"U'm...fuh…" Kurt tried to say as he was rattled by another yawn. He brought a hand up to his mouth as his eyes squeezed shut tightly. Blaine sat cross-legged on the bed looking half amused and half worried. "I'm fine," Kurt repeated more clearly. "I just didn't sleep much last night." Blaine's gaze became one entirely of worry as he noticed the faint bags that were beginning to form under Kurt's tired eyes.

"How come? Is something up?"

"No!" Kurt assured, a little too quickly. "I just couldn't get any sleep last night because you kept kicking me," Kurt huffed, trying not to come across as tightly strung as he was feeling. He attempted a laugh to ease Blaine's worry but the concern was still etched in his eyes.

They didn't spend Saturday together like they usually would. Blaine left Kurt's in the afternoon and Kurt found himself missing his best friend almost as soon as he was out the door. His crush was really starting to get out of hand. As he shut the door behind him, he pressed his head against it and breathed a heavy sigh. Whether it was out of relief or longing he wasn't quite sure. He knew that he needed to come out to him sooner or later; now that Blaine was dating he would probably want to start discussing girls with him; kissing girls and dating girls and, in the future, sex with girls. Kurt visibly cringed at the thought. He definitely needed to tell Blaine before it got to that point.

He tried to spend the day working on some homework, reading and rereading the questions he had to answer in French but, despite his skill in the language, nothing was making sense. He decided to take a break after four hours and only three questions later, when his phone vibrated.

_**Help, fashion emergency! **_

Kurt chuckled to himself as he read the text from Blaine. This was a problem much easier resolved than the French ones he'd been working on.

_**Put down the corduroy pants, Blaine. This will only work if you have complete faith in me.**_

* * *

><p><em><em>Blaine smiled nervously at Brittany as they sat together at the back of the movie theatre. He had no idea what to expect. The girl was pretty and very sweet even if he wasn't sure what she was talking about most of the time. He had begun to have doubts about himself when it was obvious that all the other guys at school had girlfriends and were experimenting. Why hadn't he started dating anyone? The truth was no one had been interested in him before, like he had said to Kurt. Brittany was the first person to ever look at him as more than just that guy with shaggy hair. In fact, Brittany actually _liked_ his untidy curls.

They didn't talk much; Brittany seemed to be fixated on something on Blaine's face and Blaine became paranoid that he had something around his mouth. He was just about to wipe whatever it was away when Brittany leaned closer.

"You're really hot." She whispered in a low, surreptitious tone, her lips brushing Blaine's ear softly.

"Oh, um, thank-"

"Wanna make out?" She asked. Blaine's eyes widened at her abruptness but before he could get any words out, her soft lips were pressed firmly against his own. He blinked several times before he realized that _oh, this is my first kiss. _He pressed back a little unsure of himself; was he doing it right? Their lips battled against each other, Blaine wasn't even sure _how _to kiss someone properly so he just mimicked what Brittany was doing, moving his lips in a slow rhythm against hers. He guessed that he was doing something right because she responded by pushing back against him harder. She snaked her arms around his neck, pulling him closer. Blaine wasn't quite certain what to do with his own hands so he decided to tentatively place them around her waist; he'd seen guys do that in pretty much every romantic movie he had watched with Kurt, so figured it was appropriate. He wasn't entirely sure how kisses were supposed to feel, but with Brittany it was wet and sloppy and very eager.

He felt a tug at the back of his neck when he realized Brittany had tangled her hands in his curls, it felt oddly therapeutic and he smiled into the kiss. He loved when people played with his hair.

Neither noticed when the movie had actually started. Brittany was far too invested in Blaine's face whilst Blaine was just trying to figure out the right pace. He decided that he liked kissing, it felt weirdly nice but he'd always figured his first kiss would be under slightly more romantic circumstances. He supposed that he'd watched far too many romantic comedies with Kurt.

Kurt…He reminded himself that he needed to thank him for all his help, even his outfit choice. He was still baffled about how Kurt instinctively knew he'd been considering the corduroys; they knew each other too well.

_Wait, why am I thinking about Kurt when there's a hot girl climbing onto my lap?_

Brittany had clearly decided that the armrest between them was making their position slightly awkward as she sat herself on top of Blaine, completely ignoring the movie. She teased his bottom lip between her teeth and Blaine breathed in sharply from pain when she bit down. He had barely a second to dwell on the bite before he felt a warm, hot tongue sliding itself into his mouth and _okay, this is definitely weird._

He pulled back and smiled somewhat breathlessly but Brittany simply looked at him in confusion.

"You don't want to kiss me?" she asked.

* * *

><p>Kurt couldn't help it. He was depressed. He didn't want to be. He'd willed himself to be happy for Blaine, to encourage him when he was feeling uncertain, but it was all just a wall he had put up to hide his true feelings. He hated himself for being so upset when it was probably a monumental night for Blaine and he dreaded when Blaine would want to gush all of his feelings to him-he wasn't sure he could deal with that.<p>

He slumped on the couch and glared at the TV for not distracting him well enough. He had never managed to finish his French homework, deciding to complete it on a day where he could keep his mind off Blaine for more than two minutes at a time. A feat that was far easier said than done.

"Geez kid, what did the TV ever do to you?" his dad asked as he came into the living room and took a seat beside him, opening a can of beer. He was still in his dirty work clothes and Kurt couldn't even find it in himself to chide his dad for getting oil stains on the sofa. He shrugged in response, not bothering to reply as he kept his eyes focused on the episode of _Friends_ that he wasn't watching. "Come on Kurt, you always say that scowling gives you premature wrinkles, something must be up for you to look like that," Burt persisted. Kurt redirected his glare to his father before letting his features soften slightly and instead of angry, he just looked depressed. Burt shifted a little closer to his son, placing a firm hand on his back. "You wanna tell me what's wrong?" he asked as gently as he could.

Kurt looked into his dad's eyes; yes, he did want to tell him everything but that would mean coming out as gay, and he wasn't sure if he was ready for his dad to know that just yet. Kurt couldn't have been more different from his dad if he tried, and he wasn't so sure he'd understand. Kurt loved his dad; he'd always seen him as this big, strong, manly guy who could do anything. He admired him but he never aspired to be like him. He didn't even want to imagine what his dad saw when it came to him. Was he disappointed that his only son preferred singing along to show tunes than watching football and drinking beer? That he'd much rather dance to his favorite Beyoncé track than fix up an old car? Would he prefer to have a son who was more like Finn and his friends?

"I'm fine," Kurt said, smiling brightly at his dad, fooling even himself for half a second.

"No, you're not, Kurt," his dad replied sternly but still with concern. "Is this because of Blaine again?" he asked and Kurt spun his head so fast he saw spots, his mouth hanging open in shock. He couldn't possibly know…could he? "You were moping last week 'cause he wasn't gonna come to Friday Night Dinner and you're doing the exact same thing now. Where is he anyways?" he asked.

"On a date," Kurt replied, his voice small and fragile.

"Good for him," Burt praised, despite Kurt's obvious look of discomfort, "you're not happy for him?"

"Of course I am," Kurt snapped, trying to convince himself that he wasn't lying.

"Are you upset or…maybe a little jealous because he's going on dates and you're not?" Burt asked him in a serious tone. Kurt looked again at his dad before nodding slowly. Because that was exactly right but not for the reasons he knew his dad was thinking. He shifted his eyes back to his lap and missed the long look of concern his dad gave him before breathing a tired sigh. "Don't worry kiddo, just you wait, you'll find…somebody. But I don't want you to go around dating people just for the sake of it, I want you to be in a relationship with someone you trust and care about and who cares about you just as much, okay?"

Kurt nodded again in reply, feeling slightly uncomfortable under his dad's gaze. Burt seemed to register this as he rose to his feet, giving Kurt an encouraging pat on the back.

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><p><strong>Not sure when chapter six will be up, it all depends on...stuff. Yeah. Shouldn't be too long though!<strong>  
><strong>In the meantime, some reviews would mean the world to me!<strong>


	6. Hair

**Chapter 6 hooray! :D enjoy some fluff...and angst...I guess it's flangst? lolidk.**

**Thank you to my beta, Morgan, for being awesome as usual!**  
><strong>And thank you to my Rachel for prompting me to write baby-Klaine at the funfair which gave birth to the beginning of this chapter! :D<strong>

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><p>"<em>Come on Blaine!" Kurt called, dragging Blaine by the hand. The annual funfair was in town and Kurt and Blaine went together every year. This year however, both of their parents decided that at the age of nine and a half, they were old enough to go without the supervision of an adult. Of course Kurt's dad had dropped them off and Blaine's mom had agreed to pick them up when it started to get dark outside but they could roam the grounds without having to conform to what their parents wanted; they were free. <em>

"_Blaine!" Kurt groaned again as Blaine stopped and crouched down over his shoes, tying the laces methodically. _

"_They keep coming untied!" he said defensively, looping the lace around his fingers, "and I don't know how to do a double knot!" He stood once he'd tied them and they started walking hurriedly across the field. There were a lot of people around and Blaine knew how anxious Kurt would get whenever they were surrounded by a lot of people, so he gripped onto his elbow protectively, smiling when Kurt looked at him, eyes wide with surprise. "Mom said not to get separated." Kurt nodded in reply._

"_It's so big!" Kurt cried in awe as they patrolled through a row of stalls, "so much bigger than last year"_

"_What do you wanna do first?" Blaine asked, looking around curiously, "Rides or games?" Kurt thought for a moment before deciding._

"_Games, but when we do the rides, can we not go on that spinny one? The one that goes in the air and upside down? I don't like that one." Blaine nodded in reply,_

"_Okay, but you have to come in the haunted mansion with me this year!" Kurt looked a little uneasy but nodded slowly before letting Blaine lead him toward some game stalls._

_They browsed for a little while before finally deciding on some games to play. _

"_This one!" Blaine called, already running towards a stall with huge remote control dinosaurs on display "This year, I _will_ win one of those," he stated, looking firmly at the dinosaurs. Kurt rolled his eyes, every year Blaine tried to win the grand prize and every year he went home empty handed. He slid a few crumpled notes over the counter to the old man who held a handful of baseballs._

"_Knock over all of the cans stacked up here with one ball and you win, kid! It's that easy! I might as well be giving these prizes away!" he said, taking the money and handing him three baseballs in return. Kurt watched as Blaine narrowed his eyes and took aim. He threw the first ball and missed completely, groaning at the waste. He took aim a second time and threw, this time the ball knocked over three of the cans but the bottom rows of the stacked pyramid remained strong. The old man restacked them and Blaine took aim with his final ball. He took his time before finally throwing his final ball, it hit the bottom middle can and every single one fell to the ground except for one stubborn can that refused to even budge. Blaine scowled at the unmoving can as though he could make it fall just by glaring at it._

"_Almost!" said the old man sympathetically. He reached to a shelf behind him and pulled down a small, pink, foam pig. "You win these consolation prizes!" He said in feigned excitement as he handed Blaine the pig and a pack of bubblegum and Blaine redirected his scowl to the toy instead. Not that the pig wasn't awesome and soft and pink but it wasn't a robot dinosaur. _

"_Here, do you want it?" Blaine asked, handing the pig to Kurt as they left the stall. Kurt looked at the pig, then to his friend._

"_But you won it, it's yours!" Kurt argued and Blaine shrugged._

"_I don't really like pigs that much, and it's pink, you like pink things!" Blaine said, placing the pig in Kurt's hand and refusing to take it back. "It's yours!" Kurt smiled at Blaine before tucking the toy into his satchel. _

_They didn't play any more games after that, Blaine feeling dejected from his consecutive losing streak, and instead headed to some of the rides. Blaine would howl with adrenaline while Kurt clung to whatever safety harness stood between life and certain death. Blaine managed to force Kurt through the doors of the haunted mansion though Kurt clung to his friend's arm the whole way round, shielding his eyes from the gory decorations and squealing in fear whenever something would jump out at them. Blaine laughed fondly at Kurt's discomfort and promised him he wouldn't let anything bad happen to him._

_They ate candy floss and watched the magician make a man's tie disappear before it reappeared later in his shoe, causing them to giggle at his confusion. It was the only trick the magician seemed to get right however so eventually the boys lost interest and decided to wander through the hall of mirrors. _

"_Here, do you want some of my bubblegum?" Blaine asked a while later, pulling out the pack he'd won and handing it to Kurt, who nodded and took a piece. The two sat on the grass just outside the fair and chewed in silence, exhausted from the day's fun. _

"_We should go wait for my mom," Blaine said, getting to his feet and helping Kurt up too. "She'll be here to pick us up soon." They walked side by side to the spot where Blaine's mom had said to wait for her discussing how Blaine would definitely win a dinosaur next year, when suddenly Blaine stumbled forward after stepping on one of his untied shoelaces. _

"_Blaine!" Kurt exclaimed, reaching forward to try and catch him, but he ended up losing balance as they both toppled to the floor. Blaine groaned as Kurt rolled off him and sat up on his knees. _

"_Ow," Blaine whimpered, sitting up, his hand instinctively reaching to rub the sore bump on his head where he and Kurt had collided, pausing abruptly when his fingers came into contact with something wet and sticky. Kurt's eyes widened when he saw a wad of pink bubblegum clinging to Blaine's dark, messy curls. He placed both hands over his mouth in horror, realizing that it must have fallen out of his mouth when they tripped. _

"_Eeww!" Blaine moaned, trying to pull his hand away but the gum attached itself to his fingers as well. "Gross! Kurt! Get it off!" he begged. Kurt crawled over to his friend and sat cross-legged behind him as he tried to pick out the gum despite being just as disgusted by it as Blaine. The more he tried to separate the gum from Blaine's hair, the more tangled it became. _

"_I can't!" Kurt cried, "It won't come off!" Blaine clawed desperately at his head, trying to get it out, but only making the situation worse. _

"_It has to!" he said, panicked. _

"_Blaine!" came a woman's panicked voice. "There you are, I thought I told you both to meet me by the front entrance?" She scolded but stopped short when she saw Blaine's hair. "Oh my God, what have you done now?" She sighed, crouching down to inspect the damage. "Looks like you're gonna need a hair cut buddy," she said, Blaine's eyes widened in panic._

"_No! I like my hair!" he said, holding onto his head protectively with both hands, while Kurt looked at him sympathetically, feeling guilty."Won't it just wash out?"_

"_I'm afraid not, honey," she said apologetically, pulling Blaine up to his feet. "Come on boys, dinner is waiting at home. _Blaine! _Don't touch your hair." Blaine sulked in the car home, arms crossed and scowling at his shoes for causing him to fall in the first place. Kurt didn't say anything and just stared out of the window gloomily. _

"_I don't _want_ a haircut!" Blaine moaned after they'd eaten dinner and his mother had seated him, armed with a comb and a pair of scissors. Kurt sat on the sofa, watching with a guilty expression. _

"_Blaine, hold still! Do you want me to cut your ear off?" She asked and Blaine instantly froze at the thought as his mother started snipping. She started from behind, snipping out the chunk of pink gum and placing it in a plastic bag to dispose of it before moving to the sides to even it out. Blaine watched in despair as his precious curls tumbled across his shoulders and floated to the floor. When she finished, Blaine tentatively held up the small hand mirror and examined the damage, turning his head side to side to try and get a better look. He ran a hand through the short, fluffy curls and pouted. _

"_I look like a poodle," he huffed. His mother ignored him and began sweeping up the hair that had gathered on the floor. Blaine dragged his feet and went to sit beside Kurt on the sofa. Kurt glanced at him with big eyes before redirecting his gaze back to his lap and his folded hands._

"_I'm sorry," Kurt said in a small voice. Blaine looked over at his friend, confused._

"_Why?" he asked softly as Kurt looked at him again._

"_I fell on you and got the bubblegum in your hair." _

"_Yeah, but that wasn't your fault," Blaine said, shuffling closer to Kurt on the sofa. "It was my stupid shoelaces' fault 'cause they wouldn't stay tied!" Kurt looked at him again, still feeling bad, but not as much as before when he saw Blaine grinning at him. _

"_It'll grow back." Kurt said encouragingly, though secretly he liked Blaine's hair shorter, and Blaine ran a hand through it again. "And anyway, I always wanted a puppy." _

* * *

><p>"Hey you," Blaine greeted, hopping down the steps to Kurt's basement room.<p>

"Blaine!" Kurt exclaimed, dropping his pen onto his notepad and scrambling to close it. "You scared me!" Blaine surveyed him incredulously.

"Why? It's not the first time I've dropped by unannounced," he said, laughing as he stood by the bottom of the stairs, waiting for Kurt to _see_ him. Kurt tossed the notepad into his drawer, shutting it firmly so Blaine wouldn't catch a glimpse of the love-hearts he had been doodling. He spun around in his chair to see his friend standing sheepishly, his mouth instinctively hanging open at the sight.

"You-you're…what did you…what?" he said at a loss, eyes as wide as saucers. Blaine gingerly touched a hand to the freshly cut hair plastered to his head with probably half a tub of gel, smiling uncertainly.

"Does it look bad?" he asked, weary of Kurt's reply.

"No!" he exclaimed, rising from the chair to meet Blaine, his own hand touching the curls as if confirming it was real and an open-mouthed smile played on his lips. "Maybe lighten up on the gel a little, but it's _so_ much better now."

"It's either gel or poodle so…" Blaine said trailing off, turning his head to the side as Kurt took it all in. "Your dad didn't even recognize me when he answered the door!"

Kurt laughed before bringing his hands to cover his mouth in pure joy. He'd been bugging Blaine about his hair for as long as he could remember, but Blaine would always just shrug of his comments without a second thought. He'd planned on more than one occasion to trick Blaine into getting a haircut but he had always caught on to what he was doing at the last minute and drag him out of the mall, far away from any hairdressers or barbers. He even had to hide all of the scissors in his house when Kurt kept trying to cut it himself.

"But…why?" Kurt asked incredulously, trying to get over how different Blaine looked with short hair. "You didn't get gum in it again, did you?" Blaine shrugged.

"I just… felt like a change," he justified. "So it really looks okay?"

"Are you kidding? It looks…perfect," Kurt said, unable to come up with a more suitable adjective to describe the shiny uniformed curls. Kurt stared at him in awe, Blaine looked exceptionally more charming and…oh, _oh._ _This does _not_ help with the whole don't-fall-in-love-with-Blaine plan._ Kurt's breath caught in his throat as he hastily turned to clear away some of the other things still littered on his desk. Blaine, feeling more confident once he'd had approval from Kurt concerning his spontaneous haircut, threw himself on Kurt's bed, both hands resting behind his head as he watched Kurt clear up.

"Shoes off if you want to sit on my bed," Kurt demanded, pointing an accusing finger at Blaine. "You know the rules." Blaine sighed.

"Fine!" He slipped off his loafers, leaving them at the foot of the bed. "So what's new?" He picked up the pink stress ball in the shape of a pig by the side of Kurt's bed and started tossing it with one hand and catching it with the other.

Kurt shrugged in response to his question.

"Not much," he offered as he slipped away from his desk to join Blaine on the bed, resting his head on his friend's shoulder. "Just been doing some homework." Blaine stared at him expectantly, eyes wide and brows raised. "What?" Kurt finally asked.

"Aren't you going to ask me about my date?" Blaine asked, pretending to sound hurt.

"Oh, yeah, that was last night, wasn't it…?" Kurt said slowly, raising his head from Blaine's shoulder. In truth, he was fully aware that Blaine's date had been the night before but chose to avoid talking about it for as long as possible. "Well?" he asked tentatively, bracing himself for the worst.

"It was…interesting to say the least. We didn't actually watch much of the movie if you know what I mean." Blaine laughed almost nervously as he brought a hand to rub the back of his neck. Kurt focused his eyes on his folded arms, trying his best not to look like he'd just been kicked in the stomach at the thought of Blaine spending two hours making out with a girl.

"How was it?" Kurt asked quietly, he'd never kissed a boy _or_ a girl and was naturally curious. He chanced a look at Blaine to find his brows knitted as he tried to find the right words.

"Well it was kind of…wet, and messy and for some reason all I could think about was how her breath tasted like soda," he eventually said, still tossing the stress-ball and Kurt made a face of disgust because that was _not_ the romanticized sort of kissing he had envisioned in his daydreams. But then again, he didn't exactly fantasize about kissing _girls _at all. Kurt couldn't help it when all of a sudden he was imagining what it would be like to kiss a boy; what it would be like to kiss Blaine. Brittany got to kiss Blaine and she didn't know him a fraction as well as Kurt did. She got to taste those voluptuous pink lips that taunted him everyday when they stretched tight into that flawless smile of his, when they sat, plump and slightly parted when he was concentrating and Kurt wanted nothing more than to just feel them against his own. Kurt inwardly scolded himself whenever his thoughts touched upon anything concerning Blaine's mouth, but it never made a difference.

"It was kind of okay," Blaine continued. "Just, not what I was expecting." Kurt narrowed his eyes slightly.

"What exactly were you expecting?" he asked. Blaine shifted uncomfortably as he searched for the right words. He had stopped tossing the foam pig and was instead squeezing it tight with both hands.

"Promise you won't laugh?" he begged, sounding unsure of himself. Kurt nodded.

"Sure."

"O-okay well…all the guys at football practice always talk about when…when they're with a girl and they…when they're-you know-_excited_ and they talk about it like it happens _all_ the time but…" He paused, mouth open as he tried to force the words out, "…but Brittany was literally on my lap when she was kissing me and-well-_nothing._" Kurt clenched his jaw, trying to rid himself of the mental images. "Is that…normal?" Kurt shrugged again.

"You're probably just not attracted to her, like I said before you're not exactly a match made in heaven. You're the smartest guy I know Blaine, you need someone who matches you…intellectually," Kurt tried to assure him. Blaine looked at him with a fond smile as he shook his head. "Or, you know, maybe you're just gay, who knows?" Kurt joked, though it was more like wishful thinking. He looked toward his friend and his heart dropped when he saw Blaine's smile falter and slip away. It only lasted a second however and almost immediately, Blaine was smiling again like Kurt hadn't said anything and he had to wonder if he had imagined it.

"So what exactly _are_ you and Brittany now?" Kurt asked when Blaine didn't say anything in reply to his comment. "I mean are you dating or…?" Blaine's lips parted as he looked around the room as if hoping to find the answer scrawled on Kurt's bedroom walls.

"I don't know," he eventually replied. "She seems to think we are…and she was pretty enthusiastic about kissing and stuff but…"

"But…?" Kurt urged.

"Well, I guess you're right, we don't really go together that well and if I'm not attracted to her physically _or_ emotionally then…what's the point?" He said, stammering slightly as he tried to figure out what he was saying. Kurt nodded in understanding.

"You're going to have to tell her, you know. If she thinks you're dating." Kurt said, inwardly beaming at the fact that Blaine wasn't going to date Brittany. Blaine sighed.

"I know," he groaned, shoving one of Kurt's pillows into his face as he pulled his knees to his chest and clung to them tightly.

"Hey! Don't! You'll mess up your new hair" Kurt reprimanded gently, tugging the pillow from Blaine's grasp.

"Oh…" Blaine said softly, raising a hand to gently brush his fingers over his hair. "I keep forgetting that it's not there. It's weird." He said, laughing and Kurt just let himself stare at in awe.

"I still can't believe you got it cut!" Kurt said, shaking his head. "And I also don't understand _why!_" Blaine laughed as he still refused to give a legitimate reason.

"So what about you?" Blaine asked, changing the subject back to the previous conversation. He rolled onto his stomach and propping his head up on his hands like a teenage girl as he gazed up at Kurt through his unnaturally long eyelashes. "Anyone at school you're interested in?" Kurt's brows shot up to meet his hairline as Blaine looked at him expectantly because yes, there was someone he was interested in, but he wasn't going to admit that. Once Blaine noticed Kurt's falter, he immediately raised himself to sit on his knees, pointing excitedly at Kurt. "I know that look!" he exclaimed. "There _is_ someone! Tell me!"

"No!" Kurt said firmly, looking Blaine directly in the eyes.

"Why not? Come on! We tell each other everything!" Blaine begged, sounding slightly hurt at Kurt's stubbornness.

"I meant no, there _isn't_ anybody," Kurt argued, but Blaine refused to believe him.

"I will force it out of you," Blaine pretended to threaten him. "Just give me an initial and I'll guess her name," he suggested. Kurt eyes shot down, feeling like he'd been slapped in the face when Blaine had said 'her'. He wasn't even sure why, Blaine had no reason to think otherwise, especially because Kurt was too frightened to tell him the truth. He slowly raised his eyes to meet Blaine's again, wondering how he would react if he were to reply with _'B.A.'_ Blaine just sat there, patiently waiting for Kurt to relent and tell him who he liked. He _needed_ to tell him the truth, at least the partial truth, correct 'her' with 'his' because Blaine was right, they told each other everything, the least he could do was admit he liked guys instead of girls. Kurt took a long, deep breath before exhaling shakily. Blaine was his best friend, he'd understand…

"Promise you won't tell _anyone?_" Kurt asked nervously, ringing his hands together. Blaine nodded eagerly in response, thinking Kurt was about to tell him the name of a girl from school.

"Of course."

"Well…the truth is, I like…" he paused, suddenly having second thoughts, he looked to Blaine again and decided, no, he couldn't back out now. "I p-prefer-" A sudden outburst of _3OH!3 _interrupted him however as Blaine scrambled to pull his phone from his pocket, mouthing a 'sorry' as he raised it to his ear.

"Hey Britt!" he answered. Kurt stared at him, stunned from how close he had come to coming out to Blaine and realizing his hands were shaking slightly. All of the courage he had built up in confessing to Blaine quickly drained away leaving him breathing shakily as he wondered if he'd ever summon it again. He only half listened to Blaine's conversation with Brittany; it was difficult to make out what they were talking about since he only heard Blaine side but he could tell Blaine was uncomfortable. His hand was pressed against his temple and he blinked more frequently like he always did when he wanted to get out of a situation.

"Sure…yeah…I'll think about it…okay…see you Monday…Bye," he said before hanging up. Kurt couldn't bring himself to meet Blaine's eyes. "Sorry about that," Blaine said, slipping his phone back into his pocket. "You were saying?"

"Never mind, it's nothing," Kurt said in a small voice so quiet that Blaine had to lean forward just to hear.

"But…you were about to tell me who you liked," Blaine said, worry lacing into his tone at how Kurt had suddenly become so morose.

"No, I wasn't," Kurt said resolutely. Blaine eyed him with bewilderment.

"Okay," he said slowly as he finally relented, sensing how much Kurt really wanted the conversation to just be over, as he wondered what it was he was going to tell him.

"What did Brittany want?" Kurt asked, changing the subject though he still remained gloomy. Blaine tried to meet his eyes but sighed when Kurt refused to look up from his comforter.

"She invited me to a party next Saturday," Blaine said.

"Are you going?"

"I don't know, I said I'd think about it but I don't really want to." Blaine shrugged as Kurt finally tore his gaze away from the bed to look at Blaine. "Hey, come on, what's up?" Blaine asked softly, shuffling closer to Kurt on the bed and placing a comforting arm around his shoulder. "Why are you so upset all of a sudden?" Kurt shook his head, forcing the tears not to fall, especially not in front of Blaine. He leaned his head to the side, resting it on Blaine's shoulder for the second time and just let himself feel. "Kurt…You know you can tell me anything, right?" Blaine urged.

"I'll tell you," Kurt assured, "just not today." Because what if that was the last time he was allowed to be close to Blaine? To be held by him as he burrowed his face into the soft material of his cardigan? What if their closeness made Blaine uncomfortable once he knew what it _could_ mean to Kurt?

Blaine looked sympathetically down at his friend curled up into his side wondering what could possibly be bothering him so much.

"Okay," Blaine agreed. He didn't want to push Kurt. Whatever it was that was bothering him must be something big and he was sure he'd tell him in his own time. He wasn't going to pretend that it didn't sting that Kurt didn't want to tell him right away, but he respected his space and let it be, simply holding him, letting him know that he'll be there when he was ready. He tried not to let his mind wander, but found it difficult not to consider anything and everything that could possibly be causing Kurt to be so depressed. Was something wrong with Burt? The last time he remembered seeing Kurt this confused and upset was when he found out his mother was ill. He shook the thoughts away however; Burt had seemed fine when he had answered the door earlier.

They sat like that late into the afternoon, Kurt eventually falling asleep and Blaine smiling at him fondly, watching as his eyes became droopy until he drifted away, hoping that the realms of his dreams could take away whatever pain was eating away at him for just a little while. His back began to ache and his arm was falling asleep but he couldn't bring himself to move; Kurt just looked too peaceful. He pulled out some of Kurt's old _Vogue_ magazines from his bedside drawer and flicked through them, letting Kurt slumber. He chuckled to himself when Kurt began snoring slightly; he had always loved that about him. Kurt always strived to be immaculate, whether it was his hair that he spent hours styling, his perfectly moisturized skin, or his clothes that he pieced together from the most famous of brands…everything about him he made sure was flawless, to show himself off to the world. When he slept however, this small imperfection of his, though he denied it, made Blaine feel like he was the only person in the world who knew the _real _Kurt.

Blaine breathed deeply, wondering why his heart was suddenly pounding so fast. He sighed and rested his cheek into Kurt's incredibly soft downy hair. He was always amazed at how he managed to keep it looking so healthy despite all the product he put into it. He closed his eyes, trying to relax his beating heart and figure out why the knot in his stomach was twisting tightly as Kurt stirred in his sleep and nestled himself into Blaine's chest.

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><p><strong>These boys, idek<strong>.


	7. Fight

**Chapter 7 is here! Sorry for the wait! (I feel like that's all I ever say in this space)**

**Things get bad from here D:**

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><p>"Have you told her yet?" Kurt asked eagerly as he met Blaine by his locker at lunch on Monday morning. Blaine frowned and shifted his eyes from side to side.<p>

"Told who what?" He asked confused. Kurt sighed in frustration.

"Brittany!" He exclaimed and Blaine immediately understood.

"Oh…no not yet," he said sheepishly, bringing a hand to scratch at the back of his neck. The gel he was forced to wear to keep his hair tamed was beginning to itch. Kurt looked at him disapprovingly.

"Blaine!" he scolded.

"I haven't had a chance to talk to her all day!" Blaine defended himself, "I don't think she recognizes me," he said as an afterthought. "Principle Figgins even thought I was a new transfer student this morning! Do I really look that different?"

"Blaine, you have to tell her," Kurt urged, ignoring Blaine's attempt at changing the subject.

"I know! And I will, I just need to think of a way to break it to her gently," he said as they started walking towards the cafeteria.

"She's sitting over there with Quinn and Santana," Kurt said, nodding towards the table with the three cheerleaders. He'd learned the girls' names from Blaine who'd been spending far too many stolen moments beside his locker with them. "Go and break it to her now," Kurt demanded, giving Blaine a small push towards them.

"I can't do it with them there, they'll skin me alive! Do you _know_ how protective Santana is over Brittany?" Blaine whined.

"It'll be much worse if she finds out you're leading her on," Kurt sighed, grimacing at the thought of what Santana would do. From the few occasions he had spoken to her, it had become obvious that she was brutal and ruthless. "Just get it over with." Kurt knew he was being overly pushy in getting Blaine to break things off with Brittany. He couldn't deny that the sooner Blaine did it, the better he would feel but also because Blaine had said himself that he wasn't interested in her, so why _should_ he continue to date her? He pushed Blaine in the direction of the girls, "come meet me when you're done," he said as he went to pick up some food for the both of them and find an empty table.

He sat down and watched out of the corner of his eye the exchange. Blaine was clearly nervous, he could see that much. He gestured with his hands a lot which was something he knew Blaine did whenever he wanted to avoid talking about something.

He forked a piece of pasta into his mouth and chewed slowly as he watched. Santana was very obviously glaring at him furiously and he took that to mean he'd told her. Smiling to himself a little, he managed to eat a little more at ease. Blaine was his again. He knew it was selfish and probably more than a little unfair to Blaine but he couldn't help it. His friendship with Blaine meant the world to him, they were closer than most boys were with their girlfriends and the thought made Kurt's stomach squirm though he wasn't sure if it was with pleasure or unease. It was clear that he had feelings for Blaine and it hurt to think of him being affectionate with anyone else but what could he do? Blaine might be his again but it wouldn't be for much longer. Sooner or later Blaine would find a girl more suited to his tastes and then what?

Kurt wasn't sure how it happened but he went from being overly satisfied to incredibly depressed in the space of two minutes. This was exactly why he tried to avoid being alone with his thoughts.

Eventually Blaine returned, though he looked more nervous than when Kurt had pushed him to speak to Brittany.

"What?" Kurt asked with uncertainty when Blaine slumped in the chair opposite him. "What did you say?"

"I agreed to go to that party next Saturday…"

"_Blaine!_" Kurt scolded, giving him a fierce glare but Blaine refused to meet his eyes.

"I _know!_" He groaned as his head came down onto the table. "I'm bad at this sort of thing, okay?" Kurt crossed his arms disapprovingly feeling his heart sitting in his stomach.

"So what happened?" he asked, a little more sympathetically.

"Well…I wanted to ease it into the conversation but the longer we sat talking the harder it got to bring it up. Then Santana kept giving me this weird look when I told her I wasn't going to the party and I panicked okay! Santana scares me!" Blaine said, still not meeting Kurt's gaze. Kurt sighed because Blaine was just utterly hopeless.

Blaine started sulkily eating the pasta that Kurt had picked up for him in silence.

"Are you okay?" Kurt eventually asked when they'd nearly finished eating without another word spoken between them. The only time Blaine was ever silent was when something was wrong and he had a feeling it was something more than what had just happened with Brittany. Blaine briefly glanced up before stabbing the last of his pasta.

"'M fine," he mumbled but this just confirmed Kurt's thoughts.

"You know, what you said to me yesterday goes both ways right? You can tell me anything, Blaine," Kurt said softly as he leaned forward, eyebrows creasing with worry. Blaine glanced up at him in what looked like scowl.

"Why should I when you won't even tell me what's wrong with _you?_" Blaine snapped suddenly, Kurt's eyes widened in hurt and disbelief as he sank back into his chair. Blaine floundered as he opened and closed his mouth, wishing that he could just take it back. "Kurt, I'm sorry, I didn't mean that," he said. Kurt folded his arms and looked down at the floor. When did they start keeping secrets from each other? "Kurt…?" Blaine said uneasily.

"It's fine." Kurt replied, shaking his head slightly. "I get it." He could feel Blaine scrutinizing him but couldn't tear his gaze away from the ground. Kurt hadn't even come out yet and already it was putting a strain on their friendship. "I'm sorry," Kurt whispered so quietly he wasn't even sure if Blaine heard.

* * *

><p>"Dude! I heard about you and Brittany!" Puck praised, giving Blaine a congratulatory clap on the back as he pulled his shirt off, changing for football practice on Thursday afternoon. Blaine just smiled nervously and nodded. "Can't say I'm surprised though," he continued "She's made out with at least every guy on the team; it's a rite of passage if you will." Puck said, placing his arm over Blaine's shoulders.<p>

"W-what?" Blaine asked, taken aback by Puck.

"Yeah, everyone's had a slice of the Brittany pie, she's hot, right? But _God_ have you seen Quinn? The Puckzilla definitely wants a piece of _that_!" Puck whistled as he shook his head. Finn punched him on the arm with a disapproving look.

"Dude!" Finn cried but Puck just shook him off.

"Oh," Blaine replied slowly, unsure of how else to respond.

"Hey, what's with the long face? Aw, dude, you didn't think she was actually into you did ya?" Puck asked, almost sympathetically but mostly he just sounded amused.

"U-Um…" Blaine stuttered, trying to process the information. He actually felt somewhat relieved; If Puck was to be believed then at least Brittany wasn't attached to him because he _was _just using her and Kurt was right, leading her on would just be unfair. He wriggled himself from Puck's hold and sat down on the bench to change his shoes. The knot in his stomach had refused to calm since the weekend and whenever he so much as thought about being with Brittany it tugged and twisted angrily.

Blaine ignored the aching sensation and placed his muddy boots back into his sports bag, trying to calm the thoughts that had been swimming around in his head for longer than he'd first thought. He tried to ignore the real reason why he still hadn't broken up with Brittany and why he'd lied to Kurt about it. He tried to convince himself that the lies were the truth as he left the locker room undetected.

* * *

><p>"Blaine!" Kurt exclaimed as he opened the door to find his friend standing on his porch looking downcast. Kurt had arrived home not ten minutes ago, thinking Blaine had football practice. "What are you doing here? Shouldn't you be at practice?"<p>

"I skipped today," he said in a monotone, moving into the living room. "I really…I need to…" He choked and that was when Kurt noticed his eyes were red rimmed his heart sank; he couldn't remember the last time he had seen Blaine cry. Blaine started pacing the room, his hand pressed against his forehead in frustration that he couldn't get his words out.

"Have you been crying? Are you okay?" Kurt asked with concern as he took Blaine by the elbow and led him to sit on the sofa. Blaine shook his head from side to side; no. He was breathing deeply but shakily as Kurt rubbed his arm comfortingly.

"Can you not?" He asked quietly and Kurt retracted his hand as though he had just been burned. He held both of his hands together, uncertain what to do with them. Blaine leaned forward, resting his elbows on his knees and hung his head. "Sorry I just….can't…"

"Do you want some coffee?" Kurt offered, unsure of what else to say. He rose to his feet, "My dad got some more of that stuff you love at the weekend…" He watched Blaine tentatively waiting for a reply until he finally received a shaky nod and hurried off to the kitchen. "I'll be right back."

Kurt fumbled around trying to collect his thoughts as he made Blaine's coffee. His heart was pounding in fear for what could possibly be wrong. Why didn't he want Kurt to touch him? Kurt froze as an unwanted thought crossed his mind…what if Blaine found out that he was gay?

_No_, he forced himself to think as he tried to remember how to breathe. _If he felt that way then he wouldn't have come over at all._

But the way Blaine had looked, as though his entire world had just crumbled away, sent a painful jolt through his heart. He stirred some sugar into the coffee, not quite decided whether he wanted to take his time or hurry out to find out what was wrong but eventually carried the steaming cup out to Blaine for lack of anything else to do.

"Here," he said gently, offering the coffee. Blaine slowly turned his head and stared wearily at the cup before raising his still very red eyes to meet Kurt's.

"I think…I think I might be gay," he breathed in a gentle whisper as more tears gathered and slipped down his already damp face. Kurt's eyes widened in disbelief as the cup handle slipped through his fingers and the brown liquid spilled all over the carpet. The crash sent a jolt through him as he tried to gather himself.

He dove for the floor to pick up the shards as he searched for something to say yet nothing came out as more than a choked syllable. However his heart soared at the realization that every doubt he'd ever had about himself was irrelevant because _Blaine was the same as him!_ Suddenly Blaine was on his knees in front of the stain on the carpet and the shards of ceramic that Kurt was still hastily trying to gather.

"Kurt…I-I'm sorry, I just…I really just needed to tell _someone…" _Blaine stumbled, his breathing still not quite steady. Kurt raised his gaze to meet Blaine's, a smile playing at his lips.

"No, Blaine it's oka-"

"No, it's _not_ okay, Kurt!" Blaine said, rising his voice. "I'm disgusting," he whimpered and Kurt's face fell as he sank back onto his knees, every doubt and every fear not only returning but being realized in full. So that was what Blaine thought on the matter. "I can't just _be_ this way, it's unnatural." Kurt said nothing and stared helplessly at the floor, he could feel his own tears prickling at the corners of his eyes. "Kurt, please don't hate me…" Blaine begged, "I don't know for certain yet but I'm trying to fix myself, that's why I haven't broken up with Brittany, she can help make me better!" Kurt forced himself to breathe, Blaine's words eating away at him as they replayed themselves over and over again through his mind.

_Disgusting, unnatural, fix._

"I'm sorry," Blaine said again.

"You don't even know what you're sorry for, do you?" Kurt said in whisper, his tone even but laced with hurt. Blaine furrowed his brows as he looked to his friend in confusion.

"W-what? I'm sorry if this makes you uncomfortable…and-and I'm sorry that I had to burden you with this but-"

"I can't believe how _blind_ you are!" Kurt cried, rising to his feet as the tears spilled over the edge. The coffee and the shards of the shattered mug lay abandoned. Blaine stood once Kurt did, his features traced with concern.

"The kids at school can figure it out after taking just one look at me and you can't even work it out after knowing me for ten years!"

"Kurt-"

"I want you to leave," Kurt demanded, wrapping his arms around himself.

"Kurt please! I don't know why you're so angry at me, I'm trying to make myself better, I swear I can fix this!" Blaine begged. Kurt didn't even try to stop himself from crying as the salty tracks lined his cheeks. He didn't care that he looked a mess because the one thing that he'd always feared was that Blaine might not accept him and he just could take hearing him talk about gays the way he was.

"Blaine, just go." Kurt sobbed.

"No, please! I don't want you to hate me because of this; I never _wanted _to be this way…" Blaine tried reaching over to Kurt but he just pulled away, staring blankly at the floor as he tightened his arms around himself. Everything Blaine said was like a fresh punch to his already aching gut, he wasn't sure how much more he could take.

"Blaine, I think you should leave kid," came a sudden, much deeper voice and Kurt instinctively spun around to find his father standing sternly in the kitchen doorway. Blaine visibly blanched at the sight of Burt Hummel who had clearly heard the entire conversation. Burt loved Blaine and vice versa; they'd always gotten along as though they were actually father and son, they watched football together when Kurt was clearly disinterested and he'd told Blaine on many occasions that he was always welcome in the Hummel home. Never had they ever been on bad terms and never had Burt forced him to leave. Blaine had never realized just how terrifyingly intimidating Kurt's father could be until that moment, standing there firm and unmoving, the look in his eyes had all of Blaine's instincts screaming at him to get out as fast as he could.

So he did. He took one last sorrowful look at Kurt, his best friend, who he never thought would judge him, who he thought might be able to understand him and help him get over this phase of his but instead he was met with cold eyes. He picked up his coat that he had draped over the arm of the sofa and left, slamming the door in his wake but cringing when he heard the racket it made.

Kurt shakily looked towards his father who still stood, arms crossed and scowling in the doorway. Slowly, his features softened and he took three long strides towards his son before engulfing him in a tight embrace. Kurt stiffened in his father's arms; the last time he'd just held him like that was when his mother had died, he'd forgotten how comforting it was as he eventually relaxed. The sobs that had started to settle were brought back to life as he let himself cry into his father's flannel shirt. His dad simply stood there and allowed him to dampen his shirt, rubbing soothing circles into his son's shaking back.

"You wanna talk, Kurt?" He asked eventually when Kurt seemed to calm down slightly and his breathing was more even. He felt movement against his chest which he guessed was Kurt's answer but couldn't quite work out if he was nodding or shaking his head. "Blaine should never have said those things. Not to you," he said softly.

Kurt pulled away slightly to look up at his father's warm, loving eyes, unsure of what he meant. He bit his lips as he tore his gaze away, debating in his mind, should he? Shouldn't he? His dad wasn't pushing him to say anything, there was no malice, only concern and something…knowing. He didn't realize that his whole frame was shaking until he tried to speak and found the vibrations making it impossible.

"D-dad…" he finally stuttered, eyes watering with a fresh batch of tears. He'd already lost Blaine and his mind was filled with doubts and what-ifs but he still searched within him for just a small ounce of courage. Someone had to know, he couldn't hold it in anymore. "D-dad, I'm…I-"

"I know," his dad said firmly as he squeezed Kurt even tighter.

"No…Dad I need to tell you-"

"I _know, _Kurt," Burt said, smiling at the look of confusion in his son's face; he could almost hear the cogs turning in his brain.

"You…know?" he said breathlessly, unsure if they were talking about the same subject.

"That you're gay." Kurt's eyes widened at hearing the word coming from his dad as his breath hitched in his throat. He pulled away from the embrace to get a better look at his father's face, it wasn't enough to just hear the words; he needed to see it on his face, to make sure that he wasn't going to lose him as well. "I've known since you were three." Kurt wasn't quite sure if it was possible to crack a rib from excessive heart beating yet it seemed very likely as his chest began to ache from the pounding. He could even feel it in his throat as he tried to form a coherent response.

"Oh," was all he could come up with as Burt pulled him back in, resting his head on top of his sons comfortingly.

"That _was_ what you were gonna tell me, right?" his dad asked, a hint if uncertainty in his voice. Kurt nodded against his chest.

"Yeah," he replied in a whisper, "yeah I'm…gay," he said, testing the word. It was strange hearing it said by his dad but saying it himself, feeling it on his tongue and as it lingered in the air around them just felt downright surreal. Kurt sniffled against the warm firmness of his dad's chest, feeling utterly safe surrounded in his arms. "I'm sorry I didn't tell you…until now."

"Don't be, I wanted you to come to me, I never wanted you to tell me until you felt one hundred percent ready. I didn't want it to happen like this though, and for _him_ of all people to come into this house and say those sorts of things…" Kurt wanted to defend Blaine, to say he didn't know any better; that he just doesn't understand what's happening to him but he couldn't find it in himself to do so. The sting of what he had said was still so very fresh and why should he defend somebody who thinks that he's disgusting anyway?

* * *

><p>Blaine ignored his mother's greeting as he arrived home, and he ignored his dad's scolding for slamming the front door as he did so. Instead he made a beeline straight for his room. He couldn't look at his parents, couldn't stand the burning shame he felt whenever he thought about what he was and how ashamed they would be.<p>

He could change it though, he could fix himself. He had told himself this over and over again. Brittany was good for him, she was pretty and blonde and the type of girl all the guys wanted; she was the girl that all the guys had _had_ at one point or another and the fact that she had no romantic interest in him would make things hopefully easier.

Blaine angrily threw his jacket onto the chair in the corner of his room before crawling onto his bed and curling into himself. Why did he have to be like this? Why was it _now_ that he began to feel different, when he had finally started dating and being noticed by girls…

_Because now you know that girls aren't really what you want, _a voice inside his head tried to reason but Blaine just pushed it away and forbade it from ever making a return, grabbing one of his pillows and covering his head with it as if to block any other similar thoughts from invading.

He was sure that Kurt would have helped him. His heart tugged at the thought of his friend. He had debated with himself the day before whether he should confide in him or not, but he was stupid and impulsive and unpracticed at hiding his emotions. He had been depending on Kurt to save him; he was the one person he trusted the most and who he thought would always be there for him, but if even Kurt couldn't accept this about him then what hope was there for anyone else?

But people wouldn't have to accept him because he was going to change. He wasn't going to be this person.

He should never have told Kurt, he could have fixed it on his own without having to lose his best friend over it. Even Kurt's dad hated him now. Just because of a stupid phase that he couldn't seem to shake himself out of.

Deciding that reliving the recent events was not helping, Blaine raised himself off his bed to try and find something else to distract himself with. He passed the mirror hung up on his wall and paused at the sight of himself. His eyes were red and his face was tear-stained but he was already aware of how atrocious he looked. His gaze however lingered on his hair; it was scruffy from where he'd been laying on the bed, the gel holding his curls up at odd angles. He scrunched it up with his hand, mussing up the strands that were still neatly placed until it somewhat resembled what his hair looked like before he got it cut, only shorter. He scowled at his reflection. He wasn't even sure _why_ he'd gotten it cut but all of his problems and doubts seem to have started when he did. Brittany had loved playing with his hair as she would say something about hobbits or whatever nonsense he wasn't listening to…but she had appreciated the shaggy curls and then he had gotten rid of them.

Or was it an attempt to get rid if _her_…

_No, no, no._

If not then it was certainly to please Kurt…

_No, I definitely do _not_ have feelings for Kurt._

Blaine screwed up his eyes, pressing his palms against the lids. He was crazy; he was definitely losing his mind. He didn't even think it was possible to have such an intense argument with his own conscience.

"No…" he mumbled to himself as he took a seat on the corner of his bed, hands still pressed against his eyes as he slumped forward, resting his elbows on his knees. "This can't be happening."

He had to play it straight, literally, it was the only way to fix himself, to make sure his parents would never be ashamed, to make sure the guys at school wouldn't taunt him, but most importantly, to get Kurt to not hate him.

He leaned back onto his bed. Him and Kurt; it had always been him and Kurt and he didn't want that to suddenly end; for all those years of friendship to just suddenly stop. He was going to fix it.

* * *

><p><strong>I have the next two chapters already written, I just need to check through them and edit stuff :D<br>Reviews are my motivation, I love you all! **


	8. Distance part 1

**So it turns out chapter 9 isn't as finished as I thought but chapter 8 is super long to make up for it!**  
><strong>I've split it for two reasons; 1) I like to keep my chapter length somewhat consistent and 2) There's still a little bit I wanted to add at the end which I will do tonight.<strong>  
><strong>Part 2 will be up either tonight or tomorrow! (UK time btw)<strong>

**I love you all!**

* * *

><p>Kurt couldn't sleep. He lay under his cold sheets that just wouldn't seem to warm up around his body and stared at his bedside table blankly as he curled up into himself.<p>

Things had changed so fast. He didn't even know what to think anymore.

His phone had been vibrating incessantly with texts from Blaine, some of them he read, others he just couldn't bring himself to even look at the name on the screen, let alone the words in the message he had sent. He didn't reply to any though, there was nothing he could reply with. Blaine was still convinced that he could change himself and Kurt had laughed humorlessly when he read through some of the first texts.

_Really, Blaine? You think it's that simple?_

It was unfair, he knew it was, Blaine clearly needed help accepting things but he was certain that he didn't _want_ to accept it. He wanted to change yet Kurt knew that that would be impossible.

Eventually, Kurt fell into a hazy dreamless sleep, waking to the sound of his obnoxious alarm clock feeling no more rested than the night before. He groggily got up though and readied himself in record time. Blaine would usually pick him up but he really couldn't face that so instead, he grabbed an apple at his dad's insistence that he eat something and drove himself to school about half an hour before Blaine would normally be outside.

As he was so early, the only other cars in the parking lot when he arrived were those of several teachers, but even most of the faculty hadn't arrived that early. Kurt sighed, feeling the effects of his restless sleep and knowing that it was going to be a long day.

He wandered around for a while, unsure what to do with himself before class started. He decided to return a book to the library that he borrowed for his history project, leaving it on the front desk when he realized that nobody was there yet.

He'd never noticed just how eerily quiet a school could be in the morning.

He checked the bulletin boards just for something to do and, as usual, found nothing that concerned or even interested him.

He considered just driving home and skipping for the day but quickly changed his mind, his dad would be sure to find out and he didn't want anything to put a strain on them. The conversation they'd had, the two of them sitting on Kurt's bed the night before was a much needed one but left them both emotionally drained. Kurt was saying things that he'd been bottling up for as long as he could remember whilst his dad patiently listened. It was nice, therapeutic even and he'd never felt closer to his dad, he really didn't want to mess that up. The conversation had gone from lighthearted to serious then back again and Kurt was sure he'd experienced some form of emotional whiplash, especially when he finally brought up the subject of Blaine.

* * *

><p>"<em>Do you…like him?" Burt asked tentatively, clearly uncomfortable discussing <em>these_ sorts of things with his son, his baby boy who would dress up in his mother's skirts as though they were dresses what seemed only yesterday. But they needed this talk despite the fact he had been dreading it since Kurt's infancy._

"_Blaine," he clarified, "do you…you know, like him?"_

_Kurt scowled in response partly because he didn't want to think about him but mostly because the answer was yes. But he couldn't very well admit that to his _dad_ of all people._

"_Dad…" he groaned, wiping his eyes, sore from where he'd been crying._

"_So…you do?"_

"No,_" Kurt stated as firmly as he could manage, trying to sound somewhat offended, he lied because it was much simpler than admitting the truth. "W-why would you think that?" Had he been that obvious? Burt paused before replying, clearly struggling with how to phrase himself._

"_I dunno, I mean…well come on, you're both guys, _gay_ guys and you're literally inseparable…and by the way, you two are _never_ sharing a bed at sleepovers again, you hear me?" Kurt shot him a glare before it transformed into a meek frown._

"_He's not even going to be here anymore dad, I wouldn't worry," he muttered._

"_Hey, hey," Burt encouraged, taking Kurt's shoulder and tugging him close, "so you guys had a fight, he said some stupid things but come on Kurt, you two are gonna get through this, you hear me? You need to be there for him, he's going through a rough time and you of all people should be able to recognize that, right?" Kurt said nothing, only fiddling with the hem of his pajamas. Burt continued when it was clear Kurt was going to stay silent. "He'll come around kid, he'll realize what he said and-"_

"_He won't," Kurt interrupted._

"_He won't what?"_

"_He won't realize what he said _wrong _because he doesn't…doesn't know that I'm…"_

"_He doesn't _know?_" Burt fumed as fresh tears rolled down Kurt's cheek. He shook his head. "Kurt you gotta tell him, jeez, poor kid's probably feeling so abandoned right now."_

"_Can we _please_ not talk about him now?" Kurt begged as he wiped at his eyes again, the constant rubbing was beginning to make them itch and he knew he would be a sight in the morning._

"_Kurt, you have to promise me you'll talk to him, don't just drift apart, don't let him think that you're not okay with him being who he is, you understand me? I mean how would you feel if I'd kicked you out when you told me just because I thought you worded it badly?"_

"_It's not the same, Dad, you don't understand!" Kurt yelled, finally just letting himself cry without rubbing the tears away._

"_Kurt, I'm not angry at you," his dad said evenly, rubbing circles into his back to try and calm him down," I just don't want you to ruin your friendship with Blaine because of a simple misunderstanding okay?" Kurt nodded solemnly, unsure of his feelings. "Now go to sleep, you'll feel better in the morning."_

* * *

><p>Kurt felt no better in the morning. He strolled outside into the dull sunshine. Summer was slowly but surely fading away into fall as the mornings got colder despite the still shining sun. The grass was dewy but he didn't seem to care that his boots were getting damp as he walked towards the bleachers. He just needed to be in a place where he wouldn't run into anybody.<p>

It was early and it was cold but sure enough, it was empty. He huddled himself against the rail as he sat on the bench, wrapping his arms around his knees. The last time he had been there was when he had watched Blaine tryout for the football team. Back when he thought that Blaine spending time with some other people was the worst thing to possibly happen to their friendship. He scoffed at the idea; it had only been a couple of weeks since then.

He propped his feet up on the benches in front of him and rested his head between his knees as he shivered. It would be at least another twenty minutes before anyone started showing up and he couldn't remember why he had decided to come in so early. If it wasn't for the cold air biting against his cheeks, he could have quite easily fallen asleep to the peaceful song of the morning birds

A vibrating in his pocket alerted him to a new text message and he hesitated before pulling his phone out. Just as expected, Blaine's name was displayed on the screen with an envelope beside it. He breathed a sigh before opening it, hoping he might be able to see things from a new perspective since the last time he had glared at one of the texts Blaine had sent him.

_**Hey coming to pick you up for skl now, I really hope we can talk xx**_

Kurt stared glumly at the message. He should at least reply to tell Blaine that he was already at school. His thumb hovered over the reply button before he pressed it and typed hastily. _'Don't bother, I drove myself.' _He read over it before deciding that it sounded far too harsh and pressed the back key repeatedly until it was erased. He tapped on the side of his phone, trying to come up with a way to tell Blaine that he needn't pick him up without sounding rude but still portraying how much he really didn't want to talk to him

He soon came to the conclusion that it was impossible and figured that Blaine had probably already arrived at his house and would have realized he wasn't there so he shoved his phone back into his pocket and refolded his arms. . He knew he should just listen to his dad's advice but it was much easier said than done. His dad had good intentions, but he just didn't understand how much it _hurt_. Besides, Blaine wasn't even certain, if he'd had felt that much anger at himself then how would he feel about Kurt?

He honestly didn't want to lose Blaine, but after hearing his opinion when it came to being gay, he just couldn't find it in himself to talk to him, to help him through his own personal crisis that he was most likely going through.

He thought back to the brief moment the day before when Blaine had first told him. If only he had just left it at that, if he had just shut up and let Kurt speak. Because no matter what Blaine thought of himself and how much he wanted to change it, Blaine was still gay…right? Maybe? Kurt had been forcing himself to just stop feeling and then all of a sudden, everything he had dreamed of was suddenly a possibility yet at the same time it ruined everything good between them.

Kurt rubbed his hands together when he felt his fingers beginning to get stiff and decided that people would probably start arriving soon. He lifted himself up and hopped down the bleachers to the ground, holding his arms around himself; he hadn't realized how cold it had turned.

He walked towards his locker, receiving several shoves to the shoulder on the way but thought nothing of it; it was normal behavior for the Neanderthals at William McKinley. He turned a corner and immediately spotted Blaine standing right beside his locker, looking around nervously. His heart leapt to his throat and he almost felt sorry for him. He considered just ignoring him but that was much harder to do when face to face, through text he could just leave his phone somewhere far away and ignore the cheerful tone that sounded to signal a new text message.

He hesitated as he considered what exactly it was that he needed from his locker; his Biology textbook, his French dictionary, and his math homework. He thought for a brief moment before deciding he could borrow one of the spare biology textbooks, he didn't actually _need_ the French dictionary and… he'd never failed to turn in homework before, Mr. Bennett shouldn't be too mad just this once.

He turned on his heel and hastily walked to biology before Blaine spotted him. It was still early but he took one of the spare textbooks and sat himself in the corner of the room, wondering how long he could avoid Blaine for.

* * *

><p>Blaine left early Friday morning to pick Kurt up for school but he wasn't surprised to find Kurt's Navigator missing from the driveway as he drove past. Of course Kurt drove himself that morning; they hadn't spoken since he'd been kicked out of the Hummel home so why would he wait around for Blaine to pick him up? His heart sunk so low in his chest that it was almost difficult to breathe. It wasn't the first time Kurt had been mad at him or vice versa but no matter what, they always drove each other to school and back, no matter what mood they were in or what they'd said to one another<p>

How had he ruined everything so fast?

He'd tried texting him the night before with apologies and promises that he'd make things better but he didn't receive a reply to a single one.

He drove to school, alone and disheartened but still determined, he was going to fix things between him and Kurt and he was going to fix whatever it was that was wrong with him.

_Blaine Anderson; Fixer of things he himself screws up._

Okay, so he'd work on the title later.

He pulled into the car parking lot and smiled sadly to himself when he saw Kurt's car among one of the few that were already at school so early. He considered parking next to him but decided not to crowd him too much so instead took one of the many vacant spots along another row. He needed to find Kurt though; he needed to just talk to him before things got too out of hand.

He went to his locker first, gathering some of his school books for his morning classes before tentatively walking in the direction of Kurt's locker. Kurt wasn't there however so he decided to traverse the halls. He knew that calling Kurt to find out where he was would be useless, there was no way he'd answer the phone. The only way to get Kurt to talk to him was face to face, he had always been that way.

He tried the library, the cafeteria, even the gym only to find them all empty and wondered where in the school Kurt could possibly be.

Other students began to crowd the halls after about 15 minutes of his fruitless searching so he made his way back to Kurt's locker in the hopes that he'd be able to have at least a few words before classes started.

He waited, students passed, none giving him a second glance but he waited as he scanned the growing crowds for Kurt. He offered a brief smile when Finn walked by, Brittany's friend Quinn hanging off his arm delicately but still no sign of Kurt. Before long, the bell rang and people hurried to their classes as Blaine's optimism faded. Kurt was definitely avoiding him.

Blaine sat through his first two classes, barely paying attention as he tried to figure out exactly where everything had gone wrong.

When he arrived at his Math class, his heart sank when he saw Kurt's usual seat empty. If he hadn't seen his car in the parking lot that morning he would have assumed that he had taken the day off. He tossed his bag beside his desk before slumping into his seat as everyone else arrived. His eyes were trained on the door, just waiting for Kurt to walk through. Sure enough, Kurt eventually arrived. Blaine noticed him hesitate before he took his seat in front of Blaine's, keeping his head down and refusing to meet his gaze. He leaned forward onto his desk, he needed to say _something_.

"Kur-"

"Kurt!" Brittany interrupted him cheerfully, skipping to his desk. "Mind if we swap seats so I can sit near Blaine?" Kurt said nothing and simply rose from his seat, chair scraping on the floor as his did so, and moved his things to Brittany's place. Blaine cursed under his breath as Brittany smiled brightly at him and he did his best attempt at smiling back.

"Hey," she said, batting her eyelids, leaning forward for a quick kiss before Mr. Bennett arrived. Blaine kept his eyes on Kurt for the entire lesson, often getting called out by the teacher when he wasn't paying attention. Brittany sent him several notes littered with love hearts and drawings of a particularly large cat; he wasn't sure if he'd ever quite understand her. She had given him an idea though and he tore a page from his book and scribbled a message on to the paper;

_Meet me at Lunch? Please, I hate this –Blaine._

He tapped Brittany before giving her the folded paper and nodding towards Kurt. She gave him an odd look but passed it on regardless. Blaine breathed a sigh of relief when he saw Kurt unfold it. He turned his head to look over his shoulder and their eyes locked for a brief second though Blaine couldn't quite determine what Kurt was thinking. A sorrow smile twitched on his lips and for a moment he thought Kurt may return it but instead he turned his head back to the front and Blaine had to try to ignore the aching in his chest.

* * *

><p>Kurt turned the paper over and over between his fingers. Blaine wanted to talk, okay, he could do that; he could talk.<p>

Except talking meant explaining why he had kicked Blaine out of his house; which meant telling him that he was also gay. No, he couldn't do that. He'd tried; he'd tried psyching himself up to come out to Blaine but he just couldn't, the hypothetical and the what-ifs wouldn't leave him.

He didn't want to avoid Blaine though and he didn't want him out of his life. He was mad at him yet he also wanted to help him but that wasn't the only reason he had refused to answer all of his texts and had avoided him like the plague all day. He was scared of what Blaine would say, if he'd said those things about himself then it was clear that he wasn't going to accept Kurt when he did come out. Pushing Blaine away himself was much easier than Blaine rejecting him.

He put the note aside, he'd talk to Blaine eventually, he just needed some time.

Blaine stood anxiously by his locker at lunch as he waited for Kurt. He wasn't certain what exactly he planned on saying to him but he needed to at least be on speaking terms with him again. He waited. Again.

And yet again, he waited in vain. He was slumped against the lockers and lunch was almost over when he finally gave up and decided that Kurt wasn't going to meet him. He almost wanted to cry at how hopeless he felt.

He never thought that Kurt would hate him over something like this, it just wasn't like him. Kurt had always been there, how could he abandon him now when he needed him the most? Weren't they supposed to be friends? Why did he have to make such a big deal out of this anyway, it wasn't like he wanted it to happen and he was trying to fix it anyway. He could do this, he could fix this.

But it still hurt that Kurt just completely cut him out of his life. That he was too stubborn to listen and to let him explain himself. He had always been there for Kurt without fail. Whenever he had something he had to deal with, Blaine would drop everything and be there for his best friend yet Kurt hadn't even tried.

But why did it hurt _so much?_ Why did Kurt have to mean so much to him?

He couldn't help but feel let down and didn't even try to stop the anger from swelling in his chest. He pushed himself up away from the lockers deciding that that was it; he wasn't going to bother anymore. He was done.


	9. Distance part 2

Kurt hugged his knees against his chest as he sat on his bed, once again surrounded by the dullness of his empty bedroom. Friday night dinner was awkward to say the least. His dad tried, he really did and Kurt was so grateful for him. He tried not to make it into a big deal yet once or twice he slipped up and just _had _to mention it at the dinner table. It wasn't that Kurt was ashamed; it was just new to him, being open about it, especially with his dad. They both had to try hard to make it okay. They didn't bring up Blaine but Kurt knew that his dad wanted to ask about him. He also knew how disappointed he would be if he knew Kurt hadn't done anything to reach out to him.

It did feel like a weight was lifted from his shoulders though, even though he'd lost Blaine he still had his dad.

_But he'd lost Blaine_. That was just it. Blaine had just slipped away and Kurt didn't do anything to hold on to him. The only friend he'd ever had and he didn't have the guts to tell him who he really was because he just couldn't predict how he would react. He didn't know who he was more upset at; Blaine for saying what he did or himself for being such a coward.

He mostly stayed in his room all weekend. He'd had plans to go to the mall with Blaine on Saturday but it was clear to both of them that that wasn't going to happen. Blaine had stopped texting and Kurt couldn't make up his mind whether he was relieved or not. He tried to do some homework as he was starting to fall behind but when he found Blaine's note tucked into his textbook he hastily closed it shut and couldn't bring himself to work on anything else after that.

He picked up Blaine's tattered copy of _The Great Gatsby_ that he had yet again forgotten to take home with him and found the place he had read up to the last time he used it to distract himself. He wasn't sure why he thought reading Blaine's book would help take his mind away from his friend and, much to his dismay it didn't. He couldn't help but picture Blaine whenever he read Gatsby's name but he still continued to read regardless.

He refused to leave his room, eating up the words and embracing Gatsby's sorrow, the dull ache in his chest whenever Blaine came to his mind faded eventually and he couldn't help but appreciate why he liked it so much. It wasn't a conventional love story but he couldn't deny that Blaine was right, it was romantic. Gatsby changed his whole self so that Daisy would give him a chance, to accept him and to love him.

He finished it late Saturday night, closing the book and holding it tight in his hands as he stared at the back cover, brushing his thumb over the frayed edges. The last several days seemed suddenly to weigh heavily on him as reality slowly seeped in again. He sighed before turning the book over and started over from the beginning in an attempt to hide from everything that was real, falling into the fictional world just so he could forget.

Kurt drove himself to school Monday morning surprised that he felt slightly better than he did on Friday. He had hoped that the weekend might have given him some time to recover. As he parked and saw Blaine's car across the parking lot, he knew that he was just that little bit closer to talking things over with Blaine. He decided that he would actually make an effort that day. Things were looking up.

He was being incredibly unfair to Blaine by pushing him away and he knew this; Blaine didn't even know _why_ Kurt was so angry. He remembered all too clearly the look of confusion and pain when Kurt had asked him to leave and he just couldn't be around Blaine knowing what he would think of him. But they needed to get passed it. The hypotheticals and the what-ifs could go both ways. What if Blaine was happy for Kurt? What if he…felt the same way Kurt did about him?

Blaine wasn't waiting at his locker that morning and he wasn't sure if he was relieved or not. He was searching for his calculator when he heard a familiar voice. It was Blaine, but he wasn't talking to _him_. A girl's voice followed soon after in a murmured tone and Kurt glanced to the side to see Brittany standing with Blaine at her locker. His eyes traveled slightly south and his heart lurched when he saw Blaine's hands planted firmly on her hips, holding her flush against him. He tore his gaze away; he was only torturing himself by looking. He scowled into his locker as he looked angrily for his calculator yet when the hushed voices of the two ceased, he couldn't help but peak in their direction again. When he saw Blaine's lips locked with hers, he was almost certain he stopped breathing. It wasn't a quick peck, it was full blown making out right there in the middle of the hallway and he was fairly certain there was a considerable amount of tongue. The thought made his insides squirm as he tried to rid the image that was suddenly burned into his eyes. It hurt. Seeing Blaine with someone else hurt. Any and all progress he'd made in the battle against his own doubt quickly vanished.

He mostly pitied him. Blaine was hiding who he really was. Even if he wasn't completely sure that he was gay, he did say that he wasn't interested in Brittany, so why was he suddenly sucking faces with her in the hallway? Kurt knew that Blaine was just trying to fix himself; he also knew that it would never work. It's not something you can fight; it's just something that you are.

He wanted to help Blaine find himself, to show him that it was okay but he was just too scared. Things were so different. In the space of just a few days they had gone from best friends to complete strangers. It was as if the last 10 years of their friendship just hadn't happened at all.

But why was he so angry again? Blaine needed help, he needed a friend but all Kurt could feel when he looked at him was pain.

He tore his gaze away, cursing himself for staring for so long as it would just make it all the more difficult to forget, and finally found his calculator before slamming the locker shut and marching towards his first lesson. He saw out of the corner of his eye as Blaine shot him a glance as he passed but made sure to not even recognize his presence as he continued on his way to class with a stern face. The moment he turned the corner however he felt himself falter as his mask fell apart. He brought a hand up to press against his forehead as he slowed in his tracks. Why did he have to be such a coward?

Taking several deep breaths, Kurt managed to pull himself together enough to drag his feet through the hallways again, his head hung as he stared gloomily at the colored tiles. He tried not to let his mind wander but it was inevitable that he'd think of Blaine, yet his thoughts didn't stay on him for long as a pair of hands shoved him brutally into the adjacent lockers. The collision stunned him momentarily as he fell to his knees and tried to figure out what had just happened. He looked up to see Puck snickering, Finn was beside him but didn't look quite as amused as he frowned at his friend before they left. Kurt gingerly clutched his bruised shoulder; the marks from when he'd been tossed into the dumpster the other week had only just begun to fade and he'd relished in the fact that he would no longer have to hide them from his dad.

He felt his eyes burning but this time he wasn't going to let himself cry at all. He couldn't just sit and sob every time someone pushed him around. It was becoming more and more frequent and crying would do absolutely nothing. He pushed himself back onto his feet, still clinging to the tender bruise, people walked right by him, ignoring his existence. No one had helped him; they just looked straight through him. No one seemed to care.

He picked up his bag and positioned the strap on his uninjured shoulder and continued on his way, forcing down the feeling of complete and utter loneliness.

Math was uninteresting as usual. Brittany took his seat again and he was slightly relieved that he wouldn't have to be in the middle of the two. At least he could have his back to them and wouldn't have to be forced to witness the disgusting doe eyed glances that he knew they were giving each other.

He walked past the bulletin board on his way to the parking lot at the end of the day, pausing when he saw a sign up sheet pinned crookedly to the board that hadn't been there the last time he'd checked.

_The New Directions!  
>Glee club<br>Sign up below,_

He scrutinized the paper, there was only one name so far and there wasn't any more information on what the New Directions actually was besides that it was a glee club, yet somehow he felt suddenly inclined to try out, to just go for it. He loved to sing and had an impressive range and glee would certainly be more interesting than the old choir. He needed something. High school was just too much to bear without a single friend; without Blaine. Maybe he'd meet people who would accept him for who he was. It was unlikely considering he attended McKinley but it was worth a try.

He took several quick glances to the side before grabbing the pen and signing his name below that of someone named Mercedes Jones.

It didn't take him long to choose what song to sing for the audition; _Mr. Cellophane_ had been on his mind a lot recently. He was up half the night practicing, much to his dad's dismay. He'd had to tell him to keep it down three times despite their bedrooms being two floors apart.

The next day he flew through his audition like a breeze. Mr. Scheuster, the Spanish teacher who was the new glee club director seemed to be impressed with his vocal ability and he tried not to let it get to him that everybody who auditioned made it into the club; All five of them.

The first day of rehearsal was mostly just for everybody to get to know each other. Mr. Scheuster gave an overly optimist pep talk about how they were more than just a team, that they had to be a family and that they had to connect. Kurt had looked around the room wearily; his people skills weren't brilliant. Instead of trying to make friends he put up his walls because if he acted confident then they'd see him as so…right? He couldn't help but come off as obnoxious though but he tried, he wanted to fit in just for once.

He met _T-T-T-Tina_ first and found himself getting irritated whenever she couldn't get her words out. He smiled pleasantly however since he wanted to be confident, not rude. She was shy and he was uncomfortable so they didn't have a lot to say to each other.

His brief encounter with Artie consisted of Kurt telling him exactly what he thought of his sweater vest and bow tie combination and Artie rolling over his foot with his wheelchair _supposedly_ by accident. Kurt grimaced when he apologized profusely before rolling himself away.

Rachel Berry was definitely going to be a name that was going to haunt him in his sleep. From afar she had seemed like a normal sane girl who just liked to sing and he'd honestly thought she was his best shot at a friend yet after spending five minutes listening to her rambling on about her gold star metaphor and her alikeness to Barbra Streisand he wanted nothing more than to punch her pretty little mouth, or at the very least stuff it with a sock. Her superior than thou attitude-not unlike his own but he ignored that fact-got old quickly and basically every thing that came out of her mouth was pure, unbridled insanity. Until she sang of course, but he'd never admit how spectacular she was, at least, not to her face.

Then there was Mercedes and her wardrobe of neon colored obscenities that made him wish he was born without eyes. She was feisty and strong but she was big hearted and Kurt found himself drawn to her. They had a rocky start, of course Kurt being Kurt found it imperative to explain everything that was wrong with her outfits and she didn't appreciate his _'good intentions'_, jumping down his throat whenever he'd so much as look at her outfit wrong but eventually they found themselves laughing about it and Mercedes finally relented and let Kurt give her some fashion tips.

Mercedes was amazing. She was sweet and funny and they always laughed when they were together. But she wasn't Blaine.

Kurt's heart still clenched when he saw Blaine in the hallways, Kurt with his arm linked with Mercedes' and Blaine hand in hand with Brittany. Their eyes occasionally met for a brief second but never for longer. Blaine was always the one to look away, as though he was almost ashamed and Kurt just felt incredibly depressed whenever as they walked past each other. It was too late; he'd missed his chance to apologize. Now it was as if they were strangers.

* * *

><p>Blaine had been mad at Kurt, he was mad for abandoning him and for not accepting who he thought he might be.<p>

But then he just missed him. He had been trying everything to show Kurt what he was doing; that he was still with Brittany and how much he was trying to just make things normal, to make _him_ normal. Perhaps making out with Brittany right next to Kurt's locker wasn't his most tactical of plans. He had looked hopefully towards Kurt when he had passed, praying that he'd just forget what he had said about being gay, pretend it had never happened but, much to his disappointment, Kurt just continued to act like he didn't exist.

He didn't like Brittany. Well, he _liked _her in that she was generally nice and sweet and a little cute when she lived in her own little bubble but he would never feel any romantic feelings towards her. He tried to force himself to enjoy their kisses, from the chaste pecks to the long make out sessions but whenever they kissed he couldn't help but just zone out of reality, think of better times when his life hadn't sucked so much and he hadn't felt so alone…and when he had Kurt. He found himself thinking of Kurt more and more when he made out with Brittany, it stopped him from coming back to realize just how unpleasant kissing someone was when there were no feelings attached.

He missed Kurt though, and it just ached that he didn't even seem to feel the same. He strolled around the school just as confident as he always had and had quickly made new friends. Blaine had seen him around with a girl from the glee club that he had joined and wondered if they were dating. The way they acted together was cute, always linking arms and laughing about something and Blaine wished that his relationship with Brittany could be as easy as theirs.

The guys on the football team seemed to warm up to him once they realized that he no longer hung around with Kurt and he wasn't sure if he should be grateful or offended. Even Karofsky was nothing but friendly. He'd spent some time after school at Finn and Puck's with several of the other guys just for something to do; he never realized how much of his spare time he had spent with Kurt and was endlessly bored when he was home. Finn and Puck were great, a little rough and very boisterous but they were nice to him and he was glad he had them but spending time with them just wasn't the same as it was with Kurt. He felt like he had to wear a mask all the time and be someone he wasn't.

He was insanely jealous when he discovered that Finn had joined the new glee club. He'd be lying if he said he didn't want to join, not only to try and be closer to Kurt again but also because it actually seemed like fun. He knew that Kurt wouldn't want him there though and instead settled for listening to brief snippets of their rehearsals as he walked by the choir room on his way home. Kurt always looked like he was having fun and he tried not to let it make his chest ache.

It was in a morning assembly when he finally got to hear what they sounded like. He had perked up when Principle Figgins had introduced them and suddenly the stage had his full attention. Of all the songs he had expected them to perform, _Push it_ was considerably low on the list. His mouth literally hung open when they started. He wanted to laugh; he wanted to cry; he just wanted to tease Kurt endlessly because it was hilariously brilliant. He found himself smiling stupidly and chuckling to himself as he tapped his foot to the beat. It was over the top and almost everyone around him watched with confused or just blank faces and some of the teacher's looked thoroughly unimpressed. He didn't care though because Kurt was moving his hips like he had only ever seen him do in the confines of either of their bedrooms when they had their lame dance parties together.

It had been over a month since he and Kurt had last spoken. The _Push It_ performance had made him realize just how much he missed him, how much he missed teasing him and dancing with him and laughing together, just being them. Brittany still clung to him like a leach and he had become almost immune to her. Blaine kissed her, he hugged her and he said sweet boyfriend-like things to her but he still didn't understand her. He definitely didn't love her.

He was on his way to meet Brittany by her locker- he was eternally grateful that her locker was so close to Kurt's- when he made up his mind. He bypassed Brittany's locker and continued straight towards Kurt's, she didn't even notice him walk past. He stood awkwardly beside Kurt who didn't see him behind the door to his locker and wrung his hands together as he braved himself to say something.

"Hey," he said so quietly he was surprised Kurt actually heard. Kurt turned and did a double take when he saw Blaine standing sheepishly beside him. Blaine wasn't entirely sure where to look, he always used to look Kurt in the eyes when they spoke because after all the years they'd known each other, he still couldn't work out what color they were.

There was a pause in which Blaine felt like his entire world was in the balance until Kurt replied.

"Hey," he replied slowly. Blaine froze; he hadn't actually considered what he would say past 'hey' and his vocabulary seemed suddenly to vanish. He looked up to see Kurt's brows raised and his eyes searching for something he wasn't quite certain of.

"Hey," Blaine said again, his voice wavering and uncertain. Kurt blinked several times before looking around uncomfortably as he hugged his arms around himself. "I miss you," he whimpered earnestly before allowing himself to look Kurt in the eyes, "and I'm sorry." Kurt returned his gaze a little stunned before quickly averting his eyes. "I'm trying to…to not be…you know…I'm with Brittany and things are…going okay I guess." Kurt scrutinized Blaine, making him squirm under his gaze.

"Why are you still with her?" Kurt asked quietly and Blaine frowned.

"B-because I…I don't want you to hate me anymore. Like I said I'm trying to change…"

"But you don't have to _change-_"

"I just want things to go back to how they were." Kurt narrowed his eyes as he calculated things in his mind.

"Tell me what to do Kurt, anything. I'm doing my best here but…Please, just tell me why you can't even _look_ at me anymore," Blaine pushed, trying to firm but he couldn't stop his voice from shaking. He breathed deeply. Kurt opened his mouth to say something before pausing and closing it again, shaking his head softly. "I think we should just…sit down and talk about what the hell happened between us. We just seemed to…stop, and I hate it." Kurt looked back up to him as he bit the inside of his cheek and seemed to consider what Blaine had said. "Why don't I come over after school…If that's okay? We can talk and maybe have Friday Movie Night…just like we used to." Kurt shifted uncomfortably as Blaine waited for a response.

"I can't do today, I have this car wash thing with the glee club." He paused for a second as if considering something. "How about tomorrow?"

"Saturday? I kind of have a football game…" Blaine said apologetically as he sighed in frustration.

"Kurt, you coming?" Mercedes interjected, linking arms with Kurt and Blaine tried to convince himself that he wasn't even a little bit jealous.

"Yeah, I'll just be a sec." He said, smiling affectionately at the girl and Blaine's heart tugged in what was definitely not jealousy. "How about next Friday?" Kurt suggested, turning back to Blaine and jolting him out of his thoughts.

"Uh, yeah sure, that works," Blaine said nodding as he quickly searched his brain to double check that he was free.

"I'll uh, text you I guess…" Kurt said with a slight uncertainty as he offered a fraction of a smile. Blaine's eyes widened as he nodded yet again; it had been far too long since he'd last seen Kurt smile at him.

"Yeah," Blaine said as Kurt left with Mercedes. He breathed a heavy sigh through his shaky chest and had to take several minutes to actually realize what he had just done. He'd taken a step forward. _Blaine Anderson; fixer of things he himself screws up _finally did something that could be considered productive.

* * *

><p>As Kurt walked away he hated himself. Guilt gathered in his lungs and swarmed until his whole body felt like a hollow, empty shell. Kurt was the one who was stubborn, cowardly idiotic the list goes on…Blaine had done nothing wrong, yet he was the one to initiate contact after so long. He had apologized for being <em>gay<em>. Kurt couldn't even stand to be near himself.

"Kurt, are you okay?" Mercedes asked, eyeing him curiously. He snapped his head to Mercedes as he was pulled out of his thoughts of self-hatred.

"I'm Fine," he replied shakily.


	10. Out

**Finally got this chapter out. I've known exactly what I want to happen for a while but I just couldn't seem to get it down!**

**Also I know _nothing_ about American Football (I even had to ask a real life American for a brief explanation of the rules and I still don't understand) so enjoy me bullshitting my way through that one particular scene... feel free to point out any mistakes :D**

* * *

><p>Kurt stared at the busted window of his car with dismay. His dad was going to kill him. How could she do this? Why would she want to hurt him so much? He had honestly thought they were friends.<p>

Kurt rested his head against the steering wheel as he sat in his parked car in the driveway. He had done it again. He had lost a friend because he couldn't be honest. He couldn't just tell Mercedes that the reason he couldn't date her was because he was gay, he just _had_ to lie and say he liked Rachel. He wasn't even sure how it happened but now Mercedes hated him and he was left with a hole in his windscreen.

Thoughts of hiding the damage buzzed through his mind. His dad would be home from the shop soon and Kurt didn't even want to think of how he'd react when he saw the busted window. Kurt shuddered, however he couldn't think how he could hide it. Even if he did, he couldn't drive it far in the state it was in and Burt would surely begin to wonder why Kurt had taken to riding the bus to school again.

Eventually, Kurt pulled the keys out of the ignition and went inside, slamming the car door on his way. He ignored how he'd chastise anyone for shutting it with anything more than the necessary force, how he would lose his mind if anyone had muddy shoes or wet clothes anywhere _near_ his precious car and he tried not to think of the few tiny brown spots of coffee Blaine had spilled several weeks ago-he never got the chance to live up to his promise and clean it since Kurt had tossed him out of his life.

He hastened himself to the kitchen, hurling his bag onto the sofa angrily. He hated this, hated being so mad all the time. He'd been feeling this way more and more since…well everything. He used to be so calm until everything changed. Now he had no one, no friends, no one to look up to, no one to even _talk_ to anymore. He had tried with Mercedes but now she hated him too.

Leaning his elbows on the worktop, Kurt ran his fingers through his hair as he let out a long sigh. He stared blankly at the design on the surface, noticing patterns he'd never picked up on before since he'd never had reason to stare long enough to work them out. He methodically began picking apart his hair with the fingers that were still tangled, pulling at the strands and letting the style fall out until it would slide through his fingers as easily as his life had.

He was sick of this, sick of feeling sorry for himself all the time. He'd tried to fix things when he joined glee club but where had that gotten him? He just wanted to get everything back on track again, but how could he? The track he'd been on was now wrecked and mangled beyond recognition and the new one he'd tried to carve out when he joined the New Directions had quickly derailed as well. He hated being such an outcast, it had never been easy for him to make friends.

Kurt decided to start on dinner. He'd been cooking a lot more recently, more or less every day, much to his father's delight. It was just to occupy himself with the amount of free time he'd found himself with.

Before long the stew pot was left on a simmer and he was once again left with only his thoughts for company. The brief interlude was quickly over however when he heard the slam of the front door and heavy footsteps coming closer. Kurt's eyes grew wide, knowing what was about to come. His dad _must_ have noticed. Kurt pushed himself from the counter and rushed to the meet him so he could hopefully explain himself. He halted abruptly however when he came face to face with his father's stern gaze in the doorway of the kitchen.

"Kurt, what the _hell_ did you do to that Navigator?" his dad demanded sternly.

"It was…I didn't…" Kurt gasped out as he trembled, suddenly unable to justify why there was a hole in his car.

"Do you have any idea how much that thing cost me?" Burt asked and Kurt nodded feebly in reply. "You promised me you you'd be careful with it, you promised to keep yourself safe in it." Burt rubbed a hand against his forehead as Kurt realized why he seemed to be so angry.

"I wasn't in any sort of accident," he clarified and his dad's shoulder's sagged in relief. There was an awkward pause between them before Kurt decided to elaborate. "A…a girl at school through a rock through the windshield…" he explained, cringing inwardly as he realized how awful that sounded.

"_What?_" his dad exploded before he turned on his heel and marching into the living room, Kurt following behind suddenly panicked. "That's it, I'm calling that school, what's her name? The girl who did it?" He picked up the phone and began punching in numbers angrily.

"No, Dad, please!" Kurt begged, wrestling the phone out of his father's grip. He _really_ didn't want Mercedes to get into trouble over this, no matter how much he was still hurting over it. He managed to steal the phone from Burt's grasp as he placed it back on the receiver.

"What if that rock had hit you, huh? We'd be at the hospital right now, would you be defending her then?" Burt argued, picking the phone up once again.

"I…I wasn't _in_ the car when she threw it…" Kurt tried to reason lamely.

"Kurt, you can't let these bullies walk all over you!" The man argued, scowling at Kurt, though his real grudge was against the people who harmed his son. Kurt sighed.

"Mercedes isn't a bully, dad, she's my friend…" Kurt watched as his dad's eyes widened in shock "I guess _was_ my friend," He finished though Burt didn't look ready to end the discussion. "Please don't call the school, it was just a stupid argument we had…I don't want her to get into trouble for it. I can fix it myself and I'll pay for parts." Burt sighed as he finally relented, putting the phone back down.

"Well, whatever it was you were arguing about must have been pretty serious for her to do _that." _Kurt nodded absent-mindedly before thinking…_Why _had_ she gotten so angry? _He didn't like her in the way she clearly liked him, it wasn't a crime, it's not like he can control who he is and is not attracted to, right?

But then she didn't know that. Mercedes was unaware of the fact that it wasn't that he _didn't_ like her, it was that he _couldn't_. And Kurt with his desperate need to just fit in somewhere had probably been way to forward with making plans to hang out and get to know each other, she probably thought he was just leading her on. Her fury suddenly made a lot more sense to Kurt. From what he knew about girls (which was, admittedly, very little), leading them on was a serious offense. Maybe not quite justified by a busted window but still.

"Thanks for the concern dad, but I think I can fix things." He said meekly as he went back into the kitchen to finish off the dinner he had started. He needed to tell her. He'd never been liked by anyone in that way before but he sure as hell knew what it felt like to be on her side, to crush on someone only for their affection to be directed towards someone else. He didn't place a name to the feeling but a certain face was definitely prominent in his thoughts alongside a ditzy blonde cheerleader.

No, he _had _to tell Mercedes the truth. She'd be the second person to know next to his father and the first person he directly _told_ since his dad had worked it out for himself. He could do this. Mercedes was still his friend, he should be able to trust her. Despite what she had done, if he explained _why_ he wasn't interested and clarify that he definitely was _not_ interested in Rachel then maybe things could be okay.

Kurt stirred the stew with a clear head, his shoulders feeling somewhat lighter once he had a plan.

He thought briefly why he hadn't tried so hard to fix his relationship with Blaine.

_Blaine_. _Of course!_ How could he have forgotten the plans they had made earlier that day? All of the drama with Mercedes had somehow pushed it to the back of his mind. His chest clenched at the thought of Blaine coming over, whether it was in excitement or anxiety, he wasn't entirely sure. He'd been meaning to talk to Blaine much sooner, days after he had kicked him out in fact but the longer he left it, the more disinterested in Kurt and the more involved with Brittany he became. It got to the point where he felt like he didn't know him anymore, did he really want him back in his life? It was almost as if he was a completely different person now.

That was a stupid question and Kurt knew it, of _course _he wanted Blaine back, in whatever way he could have him. Whether it was the Blaine he grew up with, Blaine the football player or Blaine, the straight (but probably gay) guy who now hung around with the popular crowd. He just wanted _Blaine._

Kurt closed his eyes and breathed a long and heavy sigh, turning off the stove as he did so. He was going to talk things over with Mercedes and Blaine was coming over next week.

Things were definitely looking up for Kurt Hummel.

"Dad, dinner's ready!" He called, unable to keep the smile out of his voice as his mood suddenly soared.

* * *

><p>Kurt rubbed his hands together in the cold autumn air that was chilling his bones. It was late October and the weather had taken an abrupt turn. Usually Kurt loved the autumn; it was cold enough to be able to layer up and experiment with a seemingly endless combination of clothes however this unseasonably cold weather left him with no choice but to cover his genius arrangement with a large, unflattering coat as he sat, still freezing at the top of the crowded bleachers. Albeit it was Prada, but still.<p>

Kurt wasn't entirely sure why he had decided to come at all. He'd never had an interest in football and he certainly wasn't a fan of sitting in the freezing cold but Blaine had mentioned the game when they had briefly spoken and Kurt had realized that he hadn't seen a single one of Blaine's games.

Blaine had been the better person by coming to him so Kurt was dedicated to make it up to him. Supporting him at football games was a start.

Rachel sat beside him, hands clasped between her knees. She had insisted on coming so Kurt wouldn't have to go alone but he knew she just wanted to watch Finn. Everyone in glee knew of her crush on him.

Kurt vaguely recalled the rules from when his dad had tried explaining them to him and he found himself explaining them to Rachel as they watched though Kurt's focus was primarily on Blaine. He was so small compared to the rest of the guys.

Kurt winced when he watched Blaine get clipped from behind by a burly blonde on the opposing team. It earned them a penalty but he couldn't ignore the slight limp he saw Blaine carrying for the rest of the game as he wondered why on earth anyone would willingly participate in the sport.

Rachel watched in awe, clapping excitedly whenever Finn had the ball and on more than one occasion Kurt couldn't help but roll his eyes at her eagerness. The titans were winning and it was largely due to Finn as the captain however Kurt only really felt the team pride when it was Blaine who passed him the ball in the first place.

Half time came and Kurt sat through the Cheerio performance with a painted scowl on his face. He could see Blaine watching the performance from the sidelines and no matter how hard he tried, it was impossible to ignore the ache in his seemingly hollow chest when he pressed a kiss to Brittany's lips at the end of their performance.

"Are you okay?" Rachel asked, finally tearing her fond eyes away from Finn, "You seem kind of tense…"

"'M fine," he mumbled, avoiding her questioning gaze.

"Kurt, your knuckles are turning white from where you're clenching your fists. Something's up." Kurt automatically released the tension that had built up in his hands, flexing his fingers, stiff from the cold. It didn't help much though, especially when he caught sight of Brittany dancing around Blaine playfully on the field below.

"It's nothing just…the weather, I think I'm gonna head home," he insisted, rising from the cold bench, wrapping his coat around him tighter. "I'll see you in glee club." Rachel made no attempt to stop him, merely watched as he took off, eyes furrowed in confusion.

Despite the pain, Kurt couldn't tear his eyes away from the couple as he hurried past the wire fencing on his way to the car park. They were kissing again and Kurt wanted nothing than to hurl then and there. Blaine tore away from the kiss as he caught Kurt's stare, eyes widening in surprise. Kurt paused for a half second, smiling gently, encouraging Blaine to do the same before Brittany took his hand and dragged him back to the team, oblivious to the two of them. It was a moment shared by them alone. Kurt continued to his car but instead of getting into the driver's seat, he opened the trunk to retrieve the fleece blanket his dad had forced him to keep there, _'just in case'. _

Blaine had looked so hopeful upon seeing Kurt, and it broke his heart. He really did miss being his friend.

He returned to Rachel just before the second half started, sitting and wrapping the blanket around the two of them wordlessly.

"I thought you were leaving?" She asked, though not complaining as she warmed her hands under the blanket. Kurt shrugged as the players began to get into their formation. He'd told himself he would support Blaine so that was what he was going to do.

* * *

><p>"Hey Kurt," came a tentative voice as Kurt was sorting through his locker on Monday afternoon. Mercedes appeared next to him looking nervous as Kurt raised his brows expectantly. "I just wanted to say, I'm <em>really<em> sorry I did that to your car. I'll pay for it to get fixed?" she offered, Kurt waved the offer away.

"It's okay. My Dad and I fixed it up Saturday morning," he explained.

"And I just wanted to say, I hope it works out between you and Rachel. You'd have really cute-loud-babies," she said smiling as she began to leave and Kurt inwardly cringed at the thought. _God no_.

"Mercedes," he called, stopping her in her tracks, "I lied to you," Kurt whispered, surprised to find how shaky his voice was. He was sick of messing up every friendship he valued because he was too scared to be honest about himself. Mercedes deserved to know the truth and if she didn't accept it then she wasn't worth being friends with in the first place. He could do this, he could come out to someone someone who doesn't already _know _that is. "I don't like Rachel." Mercedes furrowed her brows in confusion as Kurt wrung his hands nervously and looked around to ensure that they were alone in the hallway. He exhaled heavily, willing himself to be able to summon the courage he needed. "I'm gay," he finally confessed breathily. Mercedes' eye grew wide with shock as Kurt waited with baited breath for her reaction.

"Why didn't you just tell me?" she begged, understanding spreading across her face like someone had suddenly painted it there. Kurt offered a self-deprecating smile.

"Because I've never told anyone before, except my dad but he already knew," he admitted as he could feel the hot tears welling in his eyes, threatening to spill. Mercedes was still there, she wasn't running or sneering, she still wanted to be his friend. He had to wonder if this was what Blaine had felt when he had come out and his heart stopped at the thought. All of the inner turmoil he had felt squirming through his insides was bad enough but to have the person who you trusted the most with such a secret to throw you out of the house without so much as an explanation? Kurt couldn't breathe with how much he hated himself.

"You shouldn't be ashamed of who you are Kurt," Mercedes continued, interrupting his thoughts, "you should just tell people." Kurt knew she was referring to the members of glee club but he could only think of Blaine.

"Kurt?" Mercedes prompted as Kurt blinked back to the conversation.

"I'm not ready for everyone to know yet. I'm just not that confident I guess," he confessed before closing his locker and making his way to his car, leaving Mercedes alone to dwell on what he had told her.

He sat in the driver's seat as he finally allowed himself to really think about what he had just done. He had _come out_ to Mercedes! She didn't run, she didn't sneer, she had accepted him instantaneously.

So why couldn't he just do the same with Blaine? Why did the paranoia have to creep in and make everything way more complicated than it should be?

_Friday._ Friday would be the day he would confess everything. Because Blaine was going to his on Friday and everything will be like how it used to be! _Friday Friday Friday._ Kurt kept this thought in his mind to keep himself grounded. He just had to get through the rest of the week.

Things were good. Actually they were better than good. He had resolved things with Mercedes, he had told someone he was gay for the very first time and he was going to talk with Blaine

Yes, things were definitely looking up for Kurt Hummel.

Except they weren't.

When Kurt arrived to school the next morning, he was immediately aware of the stares, the sneers, the snickers. More so than the usual dirty look he would receive. He could feel it overwhelming him, he couldn't go anywhere without the tingling sensation of _knowing_ that someone was looking at him and most definitely judging with harsh eyes.

What the hell?

He retrieved his books from his locker while constantly checking over his shoulder as his skin prickled from the looks he knew he was getting. Just as he was about to head to class however he felt the cold metal-work of his locker digging into his face followed by a loud _slam_ before falling the floor from shock. His mind reeled as a group of football players he recognized from Saturday's game sauntered away, laughing with each other.

"Fucking fag."

"Stay in the closet, homo," they taunted as Kurt's face distorted into one of horror.

They knew.

And not like before, how they had just assumed and would throw the odd gay joke every now and then, they _knew_ knew.

Mercedes seemingly appeared out of nowhere, crouching beside Kurt as he tried to force himself to breathe.

"Kurt I'm so sorry," she said in a panic, attempting to help him to his feet.

"Who did you tell?" he demanded, eyes hard despite the tears that had gathered. "Mercedes I trusted you."

"I didn't tell anyone," she pleaded, "I just told Rachel and Tina that they were right about you. They tried to tell me before but I wouldn't listen and I guess someone over-heard…I can't believe how fast it spread." Kurt's chest was sent into a spasm as he tried to even his breathing. Everyone knew. Clearly the football team knew. That meant that _Blaine_ knew. "Kurt, please say something."

"I'm not mad at you," he whispered solemnly, alleviating Mercedes' fear as her shoulders sagged in relief.

"You know the whole glee club supports you, right?" she offered and Kurt nodded feebly in response.

"Yeah," he answered automatically, his voice barely a whisper as Mercedes walked him to class.

The rest of the day was pure hell. He could hear people whispering as he walked by and the stares didn't relinquish as the day went on. Kurt was itching to find Blaine but his friends in the New Directions wouldn't let him go anywhere alone. They walked him to class, stood watch by his locker and Rachel had even somehow managed to convince Finn to go with him to the bathroom much to Kurt's insistent protest.

He spotted Blaine in English but couldn't seem to catch his attention as he was in what appeared to be an in-depth conversation with Brittany. Though from the few times he had had the pleasure of having a conversation with her since she had joined glee club, he knew that any sort of intelligent discussion was unlikely.

The rest of the week passed much the same, days bled into each other as the looks became more and more disgusted to the point that Kurt couldn't bring himself to look anywhere but his feet whenever he traversed the halls.

Several occasions he had sought Blaine's face out in the crowds in an attempt to determine what his feelings on the subject were but found it impossible. Ether Blaine had become an expert at hiding his emotions suddenly or Kurt had lost his ability to read them in the time they had spent apart.

By Friday he was itching with nerves. Blaine was supposed to be coming to his after school but they hadn't spoken a word since last week. Maybe he really didn't want anything to do with him now that he knew?

It wasn't until the end of the day that Kurt saw Blaine again. Tina was walking him to his car and he spotted him with a few of his teammates in the near empty hallway. This was it, he was just going to pull him aside and ask him. Things were going to be fine. Probably. Blaine hadn't exactly been sneering at him all day like everyone else.

"Blai-" he begun as they were passing but was interrupted by the very prominent sensation of freezing cold slushie dripping down his face. He instinctively closed his eyes as he tried to shake it off however before he could attempt to even wipe his eyes clear, two firm hands pushed him back against the lockers and he fell, once again, to the ground, dripping with slushie and humiliation. Tina was immediately by his side as he scraped his eyes in an attempt to regain his vision. He looked down the hallway as he saw the retreating figures of the jocks.

Blaine was still with them.

* * *

><p>"Did you know that Kurt's a dolphin?" Brittany asked curiously, hanging off his arm as they strolled into English together.<p>

"Really?" he asked, pretending to know exactly what she was talking about however as usual he had no idea.

"Yeah, Santana told me. We have to be really nice to him about it because we're in Glee club with him but I think it's really awesome anyway."

"Right…" Blaine replied at a loss, heart sinking uncomfortably when she mentioned Glee club. He was a little jealous that she had joined but there was nothing he could do. He'd occasionally wait after class to meet her after rehearsals because that's what good boyfriends did, right? It also might have been due to the fact that he loved catching even a short glimpse of them practicing; of _Kurt_ practicing.

He looked ahead at Kurt only to find him buried in his books. _Friday_ he thought to himself. _Everything will be better tomorrow._

He told himself the same thing over and over again until Friday afternoon and he was giddy with anticipation.

"Hey Karofsky, Hummel's over there!" Azimio informed Karofsky as Blaine walked with them absently. He immediately perked up at the mention of Kurt to see him walking with a girl from Glee towards them. He looked as though he was about to say something when all of a sudden, the slushie that Karofsky had been saving was dumped over his face aggresively. Blaine blanched in shock as Kurt recoiled, the guys laughing and someone shoved him against the lockers before they turned to leave. Blaine's face twisted in rage as he turned away from Kurt to chase them down the hall.

They rounded the corner before Blaine shoved Karofsky against the wall, no small feat for a guy as compact as Blaine but he was entirely consumed with anger.

"What the _hell_, Karofsky?" he demanded furiously.

"He deserved it, he's a fag," Karofsky defended himself as he shoved Blaine off of him.

"I told you to stop calling him that," Blaine persisted as he followed after him and the rest of the football players who all seemed highly amused.

"You can't blame me if it's true," Karofsky taunted.

"wha-"

"Word is, he admitted it himself, so you can stop defending the little queer," he interrupted with a sneer and Blaine was suddenly at a loss for words.

_What?_

"Why do you even care Anderson?" Azimio cut in, "I thought you'd ditched the lady for good now you're a part of this team."

Blaine couldn't listen to their insults any more. He turned back round the corner, intending on helping Kurt despite their lack of communication over the last few weeks however his heart sunk upon seeing the hallway entirely clear save for the puddle of red syrup and ice by the lockers.

Of course Kurt was gone. And Blaine hadn't even stopped to check if he was okay, how must that look? Everything was just one huge misunderstanding after another.

So Kurt was gay?

_Kurt was gay?_

Blaine's mind reeled as he tried to backtrack the last month in his head. If Kurt was gay then why had he gotten so angry when he had told him about himself? It didn't make any sense.

Nothing made any sense.

* * *

><p><strong>Cliffhanger again because I'm a terrible person.<strong>

**Things will be happy again soon I promise! **


	11. Good as New

**Oh god this is so late, I can only offer my apologies and this loaded gun to shoot me with. **

**As promised, there is some happy in this chapter...eventually.**

* * *

><p>Kurt dumped his soaked bag by the front door, his face a storm as he made his way down to his bedroom, a trail of slushie dripping behind him. He hadn't bothered to clean himself up at school, he just wanted to get away as hastily as possible. And the school showers weren't nearly as accommodating as Kurt's en-suite bathroom. He peeled off his clothes, not bothering to fold them like he usually did; they were ruined anyway, and stepped into pounding flow of steaming water. It drummed against his back therapeutically but despite the heat, Kurt couldn't stop shivering. Whether it was from the ice-cold slushie or from the anger he felt, he was unsure. He stood for an indeterminable length of time, letting his mind empty itself as he stared blankly at the shelf of products. Eventually his body warmed up and he became aware that the water was, in fact, extremely hot as his skin started to burn. He didn't care though. He wanted to be as far removed from the day's incident as possible and burning hot was the stark contrast to the Antarctic-style facial he had unwillingly received.<p>

Eventually he washed out the remnants of syrup from his hair, uncaring that his scalp was beginning to sting, and the rest of him before stepping out into the foggy bathroom. He couldn't quite make out his reflection in the steamed up mirror but he could tell his skin was flushed pink.

When he shut the shower off, he was aware of the fact that the doorbell was ringing. And ringing and ringing.

"Just a sec!" Kurt called up the stairs though whoever it was unlikely heard as the ringing continued. Kurt sighed as he threw some clean clothes on and hastily towel-dried his hair; his dad had probably forgotten his keys again.

He hurried upstairs and pulled the door open, doing a double take when he confirmed that his dad was certainly _not_ at the door.

_Blaine_.

"Kurt! Thank God, I thought you were ignoring me again," Blaine said with a hollow laugh and worry creasing his brows.

"What are you doing here?" Kurt demanded in a small voice. Blaine faltered for a moment, eyes searching Kurt for…something.

"W-we agreed Friday, right? Today?"

"Yes," Kurt said, swallowing his anxiety, "that was before you threw a slushie in my face."

"_What?_ I didn't-"

"Well you might as well have," Kurt interrupted shakily. "Whether it's you or your stupid friends, it doesn't make any difference."

"Those guys are _not_ my friends."

"Really?" he scoffed, "you hang round with them enough-"

"_Kurt!_" Blaine burst frustratedly, "please. We agreed to talk, and that isn't going to work if you don't _listen_._" _Kurt met his pleading look with a cold stare. He wasn't even sure why he was mad at Blaine, he knew it wasn't him who threw the slushie and it was unfair to place all of the blame on him. But he was just wound up so tight from everything he needed _some_ form of release.

"I'm listening," he said though he wasn't sure what exactly he expected Blaine to say. Clearly Blaine had the same issue as he stumbled over his sounds, mouth opening and closing purposelessly. Kurt sighed, taking pity on him as he stood back from the door. "Why don't you come inside?" Blaine hesitated for a moment before asking.

"Is your dad home?"

"No…?" he answered slowly and Blaine stepped in, toeing off his shoes and leaving them at the door. Why was Blaine so nervous? It wasn't like he'd never been in his house before…but of course the last time he _had_ been in Kurt's house, his dad had somewhat harshly kicked him out.

The realization struck him like a freight train.

Guilt, again, harbored within his chest like an old friend. He'd promised his dad that he would apologize to Blaine on his behalf, which needless to say he never did. Blaine had always looked up to Kurt's dad, his relationship with him sometimes better than that with his own father and Kurt had taken that away from him.

"Karofsky told me…about you," Blaine began hesitantly once they had both taken a seat in the lounge. Kurt took the arm of the sofa, arms folded defensively while Blaine perched on the edge of the recliner.

"So you're believing rumours about me now?" Kurt asked unkindly. He wasn't mad at that, he wasn't sure if he was still mad at Blaine at all but being stubborn was the only way he knew to protect himself. Blaine sighed heavily, pressing his hand to his head as he squeezed his eyes shut tightly.

"Are you just _determined_ to find fault in everything I say?" he asked rhetorically through gritted teeth. Kurt said nothing.  
>"I wanted to ask you if it's true."<p>

"That depends, what exactly did Karofsky say about me?" Kurt asked, sure he knew what it was anyway.

"Kurt…are you gay?"

A heartbeat.

"Yes."

Okay. So it was out. _He _was out.

"Are you kidding me?" Blaine asked softly.

"I'm sorry if that offends you."

"Kurt, no, please just…" he sighed, "why do you think that I'm going to judge you for this? And…and if this is who you are then _why_ did you kick me out and stop talking to me when I…told you about me?"

Kurt didn't have an argument. He knew he didn't and Blaine deserved an explanation.

"Because I was scared," he replied with uncertainty. "I was scared that you'd hate me."

"I don't understand, Kurt, why would you think that?"

"Do you remember what you said? When you told me you were gay?" Kurt asked solemnly. Blaine appeared to flinch at the mention of him being gay before he slowly shook his head. "You…you said that it was disgusting and…unnatural and you've spent that last month trying to change yourself. If…If that's the way you felt towards gay people then how was I supposed to think you'd react to me? If you can't even accept yourself then why would you accept _me_?"

"Kurt, I'd never hate you for something like this…" Blaine responded immediately, automatically because it was true, Blaine loved Kurt and nothing could change that.

"How was I supposed to know that?" Neither spoke for a while as Blaine processed what Kurt was telling him, biting his lip slightly. When Kurt realized he wasn't going to say anything, he continued. "Hearing you say those things it…felt like you were directing them at _me_. I know it's stupid but I'd imagined coming out to you so many times and…I couldn't help but think of what you would say to me if…you weren't accepting." Blaine fixed his eyes upon his clasped hands, nervously biting his lip. Kurt noticed how he refused to meet his eye as his anxiety began to grow impossibly. "Please say something…" he begged after a minute of silence. Blaine squeezed his eyes shut tight before deciding his words carefully.

"I just can't believe you'd think I'd do something like that. That you think all the years we've known each other mean so little to me." Kurt furrowed his brows as Blaine still stared directly in front, eyes refusing to stray.

"So you're turning this around to be _my_ fault again?" he accused, ignoring the fact that Blaine was right. Blaine was always right and he was sick of it.

"Kurt no! God you've always been the most stubborn person _ever!_" he said with a slight laugh that, despite being forced, influenced Kurt to smile faintly in response. For the first time in what felt like years, Blaine finally lifted his eyes to meet Kurt's, the intensity of his gaze proving almost too much as Kurt felt as though he was being blinded. "I'm _not_ homophobic," he stated earnestly. "But… it's different when it's yourself, when it's more personal. I mean can you honestly tell me that you didn't hate yourself even just a little bit when you first started to…realize?"

Kurt cast his mind back. He couldn't remember ever having a defining moment where he realized _yep I'm gay._ He'd always known that he was different somehow but had he actually _resented_ it?

"I wouldn't say I _hated_ myself, I think I just hated everyone else instead. I did occasionally used to wish that I could just be normal. But I've never been ashamed of who I was. I would have come out sooner but…the only opinion that actually meant something to me was yours. Everyone at school can say what they want about me but the thought of _you_ finding out…terrified me. So I kept it to myself. And because it was this huge secret it made me begin to question if I really was wrong and disgusting. And then you came out and I was so, _so_ relieved! But then you kept talking…" Kurt finished with a shrug. Blaine sighed.

"I guess I should've just shut up after that then, huh?" Kurt bit his lip and nodded in silent agreement. "I suppose I was so nervous about what you'd think that I wanted to be the one to say the awful things about myself so I wouldn't have to hear them from you…It was stupid, I wasn't thinking…I'm sorry," Blaine concluded as he resumed staring blankly at his fidgeting hands, awaiting Kurt's reply. He was answered with silence however as worry began to claw its way into his chest. Was that not enough? What else could he do? The sound of faint sniffling brought him out of himself though as he looked up to see fragile tears streaming down Kurt's face brokenly. Instinctively, Blaine rose to his feet, crossing the short distance to Kurt and placing his hands on each shoulder protectively. "What's wrong?" he asked, eyes searching his quizzically. Kurt shook his head in response as more tears escaped his reddened eyes. Blaine gripped him tighter and moved him gently so they were both sitting side by side on the sofa, hips pressed together. He rubbed his shoulder comfortingly as concern coloured his face.

Kurt said nothing however as he exhaled shakily before resting his head against Blaine's shoulder. It felt so familiar, of course it did, it was _Blaine_. He nestled himself into Blaine's sweater, breathing in the familiar scent of the apricot fabric conditioner his mother always used as well as his aftershave. It was relatively recently that Blaine had begun to wear it and it had taken Kurt a while to get used to the new fragrance. At first he'd found it to be far too overpowering and he'd missed the fruity apricot that had always seemed so prominent but now he couldn't imagine Blaine without both and he had to wonder how he'd managed without it for so long. He breathed in another lungful before finding himself content, head lolled comfortably against Blaine's shoulder. Everything suddenly seemed okay.

"Kurt?" he heard Blaine ask worriedly.

"I'm sorry," he said on autopilot, "just…I'm sorry." He felt Blaine nodding above him before his chin came to rest against his still damp hair.

"Can we be friend again?" he sounded uncertain, as though he felt he was asking too much and Kurt's heart broke at the thought.

"On one condition…" Kurt said after brief deliberation and he felt Blaine tense. "You clean up that damn coffee stain in my car." Blaine laughed gently in response.

"Of course."

"I missed you," Kurt admitted into his best friend's shoulder. He was certain he could _feel_ Blaine's smile above him.

"Me too."

The sound of the front door alerted their attention to the arrival of Burt as he immediately spotted the two clutching each other on the sofa.

"Blaine! Good to see you again!" he said, ruffling his hair as he passed on route to the kitchen. Blaine froze at the contact and Kurt realized he had some explaining to do.

"My dad sort of thinks that we made up weeks ago… I told him that we've been really busy with football and glee club which is why you haven't been over much." Blaine eyes widened, clearly confused.

"But he…"

"He also asked me to apologise to you on his behalf for kicking you out so…yeah he's sorry, better late than never though right?" Kurt said with a nervous smile which Blaine returned as he shook his head slowly.

"It's in the past."

"You staying for dinner tonight, kid? I'm making chicken!" Burt asked enthusiastically, poking his head out from the kitchen.

"Uhh...if it's okay with you…" Blaine mumbled, caught by surprise and still not used to the fact that Burt didn't hate him.

"wouldn't ask if it weren't okay, would I?"

"Thanks Mr Hummel." Kurt saw the confusion etch itself on his dad's face at Blaine's thanks. Even for him, hearing Blaine address his dad so formally felt alien.

"You wanna go downstairs and watch a movie?" Kurt asked, surprised at how quickly they could fall back into their old routine. Blaine smiled and nodded as the two stood and made their way to Kurt's bedroom.

"It's kind of weird isn't it?" Kurt said absently as he searched through his movie collection.

"What is?"

"How we both ended up…gay." Blaine tensed again, crossing his arms over himself looking nothing less than uncomfortable.

"What's wrong?" Kurt asked kindly, abandoning his search for a movie and moving over to where Blaine was sitting cross-legged on his bed.

"Nothing," he defended.

"Blaine."

"I'm just not quite used to the idea yet…I'm still _searching,_ I don't know for certain if I am…I'm still dating Britt I just…I don't know," Blaine confessed with a heavy sigh. Kurt eyed his friend sympathetically as he took a seat beside him, folding his legs under himself. Like a hurricane, all of the feelings he had begun to feel towards his best friend before their fight came hurtling back.

"I still think you need to break up with Brittany," Kurt said, trying to convince himself that it was best for Blaine if he did so, not because thinking about them being together made him want to lock himself in his room and cry.

"But-"

"This doesn't even have anything to do with…_that_. You said yourself you're not into her."

"I just thought that maybe I could trick myself into liking girls if I stayed with her long enough," Blaine reasoned.

"Well you can't," Kurt bit back somewhat bitterly, unwanted feelings beginning to creep back. Blaine realized what he had said immediately however.

"I'm sorry, I didn't mean it like that," he hurried, "but you stopped talking to me when I told you I thought I might be gay, what was I supposed to think? I tried to change myself because I thought it was what you wanted and Brittany was just…there." Kurt nodded, Blaine was right, of course he was, he just needed to get his jealousy under control. He reached over and threw both arms around his best friend's neck.

"I'm so sorry Blaine, I'm sorry I made you doubt yourself, I'm sorry for being the worst friend ever," Kurt sobbed into his shoulder, clinging tightly. Blaine hugged him back just as tight.

"You're so lucky," he whispered, "you know exactly who you are, you know what you want."

"I can help you," Kurt offered, pulling away to look Blaine in the eyes, "you don't have to do this alone."

"How am I supposed to figure this out?" Blaine asked helplessly "How do you just _know?_" Kurt shrugged, hating how lost Blaine looked.

"Everyone's different, I guess I've kind of always known, I think you might just need some sort of perspective," Kurt said nervously, wondering where the hell he was going with this. Blaine's eyes narrowed.

"What do you mean?"

"Okay, I'm really not the best person to discuss this sort of thing with but…" Kurt breathed a long sigh, "You've kissed Brittany. A _girl_."

"Yes…?" Blaine confirmed slowly.

"Well…what was that like? How did it _f…feel_?" Blaine considered this for a short moment.

"Messy…" he said with a short laugh, "I don't know it just feels kind of how I always thought it would…a little ordinary I guess. I don't really have anything to compare it to though…"

"Exactly," Kurt said pointedly, his heart racing as his brain finally caught up with what he was actually getting at. Blaine looked at him curiously, mouth hung open slightly before shaking his head.

"Easier said than done, I don't really want to kiss some random guy and I'm _definitely_ not ready to look for a relationship with another guy." Kurt tried his utmost not to let his sinking heart show on his face and instead nodded in agreement.

"Of course, no it was a stupid idea," he replied hurriedly, ignoring the way Blaine's eyes lingered.

"Boy's dinner's ready!" Kurt's dad suddenly called from the top of the staircase.

"Uh oh," Kurt said to Blaine as they both stood, "Dad still hasn't mastered cooking yet, don't say I didn't warn you."

* * *

><p>Dinner was amazing. It wasn't even the food that made it special, Blaine was just so happy to be with Kurt and Burt again that he didn't even taste what he was eating.<p>

Nothing was lost between them, nothing seemed awkward, it was as though they'd never had the argument in the first place. A small part of him wondered if Kurt was just putting it on for the sake of his dad who was under the impression that they had never strayed from each other but the content nudges he received from Kurt's leg beneath the table erased those doubts.

When Kurt asked him to stay the night, how could he say no?

"What's that?" Blaine asked, returning from the bathroom to see Kurt draping spare sheets over the sofa.

"My dad says we can't share a bed anymore…" he said a little sadly.

"But-"

"I know."

"It's not like we're gonna-"

"I _know_."

"Were not even-"

"Believe me Blaine I know," Kurt said as Blaine pouted.

They stayed up far later than they ever used to, watching movies, laughing together and making up for lost time. The new rule imposed by Kurt's dad went ignored as Kurt eventually fell asleep resting against Blaine's chest and he didn't have the heart to disturb him. He'd just wake up early and retreat to the sofa in case Burt came to check on them.

He breathed a content sigh of relief as he stroked his fingers through Kurt's hair absently.

Miscommunication. That's all it was. When had they stopped telling each other things?

And now, they'd just managed to make things right again and he was doing exactly the same thing all over again. Because he'd be lying if he said his thoughts didn't immediately go to Kurt's soft, pale lips the minute he suggested kissing someone to gain 'perspective'.

But just because he felt like he _might_ want to kiss Kurt doesn't necessarily mean he's definitely gay. Right? He could just be confusing their close friendship with potential romantic feelings and he wasn't going to risk their relationship again for the sake of finding out.

Blaine settled against the pillows, Kurt shifting against him as he did so, nestling further into his chest. It felt right, normal but he knew that most guys didn't do this with their best friends.

"I love you," he whispered, surprising himself when he realized just how true it was.

* * *

><p>"Where are we going?" Kurt asked persistently the next morning. He was fidgeting impatiently in the passenger seat of Blaine's car while Blaine just smirked and refused to tell, keeping his eyes fixated on the road. "<em>Blaaaine<em>!" Kurt whined.

"Out," Blaine answered, laughing at the way Kurt crossed his arms, clearly not amused.

"Well I never would have guessed that, Sherlock," Kurt bit back sarcastically, playfully punching Blaine's arm who cried out indignantly. "Out _where?_" he begged but Blaine refused to say anything more.

Kurt couldn't help but let his gaze linger on his best friend as he drove. Things were okay, they weren't perfect but they were better. Blaine never intended to hurt him with what he had said and Kurt still harboured a substantial amount of guilt for his gross overreaction. But, like Blaine had said the day before, it was in the past.

"What's up?" Blaine asked, doing a double take when he noticed Kurt staring.

"Nothing, just happy," Kurt replied airily. And he was. He couldn't remember the last time he had gotten such a good night's sleep as he did the night before. He couldn't even remember going to bed but he'd awoken in a state of bliss and relished in a silent chuckle when he saw Blaine curled up on his sofa.

"It's not really that great of a surprise," Blaine said a little nervously as they pulled into the parking lot of a small family owned diner, "but I wanted to take you out to breakfast."

"That's so sweet," Kurt said as they exited the car, brushing shoulders as they walked together.

Blaine ordered their coffees as they analyzed the menu together.

They fell into conversation easily, catching up on all that they had missed with each other's lives over the past month. Kurt spoke animatedly about the glee club, explaining all of the new people he had to put up with, especially one Rachel Berry.

"I saw that performance you guys did in the gym, it was…interesting to say the least," Blaine teased as Kurt buried his face in his hands.

"Don't! Oh my God that is the single most embarrassing thing I think I've ever done!" Kurt said cringing. Blaine laughed at his embarrassment as he poked him with his fork.

"I kind of really wanted to join but…figured you probably wouldn't have wanted me there," Blaine admitted sadly, once again making Kurt feel like the most terrible person on the planet.

"You should," Kurt said without even needing to consider it as he lifted his head from his hands, "join, I mean. I'd love to have you there with me." He offered a hopeful smile, excited at the idea of introducing Blaine to the glee club.

"Count on it," Blaine promised with a grin, "then our dance parties won't have to be strictly confined to the privacy of your bedroom." Kurt laughed loudly, remembering fondly how adorable Blaine looked whenever he would dance and sing along to whatever Kurt played on his iPod when he was over.

Their light hearted conversation was interrupted by Blaine's cell phone vibrating on the table and a text from Brittany appearing on the screen. Blaine glared at the phone briefly before turning it so the screen faced the table though this only earned him a stern look from Kurt.

"You can't just ignore her," he chided.

"But I'm talking with you," Blaine defended. Kurt sighed, picking up Blaine's phone and handing it to him forcefully.

"Then tell her you're busy at least, if you ignore her it'll only hurt her feelings."

"I don't get it," Blaine said tapping his reply into the phone, "first you insist I break up with her, now you're forcing me to talk to her?"

"I still think you should break up with her but be gentle, she obviously likes you and cares about you a lot, I mean she talks about you _all_ the time in glee club." Blaine's brows furrowed as he hit send, telling Britt that he couldn't talk.

"Really?" he asked, he was sure that she was only using him for her perfect record, that's why he didn't feel so guilty about using her in return, why would she talk about him in glee club?

"Yeah, so be nice. She may not be the sharpest pencil in the box but she's sweet. And there's enough drama in glee as it is."

"I'll talk to her on Monday, I promise," Blaine said with a sigh, he really didn't want to have to do this but he had no choice.

They tried to keep the conversation light after that, simply enjoying each other's company and celebrating their renewed friendship. Blaine insisted on paying for breakfast but caved and let Kurt buy him coffee at the Lima Bean on the way home.

When they arrived back to Kurt's, Blaine immediately got to work on cleaning the miniscule coffee stain in Kurt's navigator.

"I promised I would!" he justified with a laugh as Kurt shook his head affectionately, sitting on the driveway as Blaine scrubbed.

"There," he said triumphantly, admiring his job well done. "Good as new."

* * *

><p><strong>:D<strong>


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